Dragon Ball: Age 1000
by Lewibaton
Summary: It is the year 1000 and the Earth finds itself under siege from an alien army of terrifying strength! The planet's only hope lies with Kale and Jean, two young Earthlings who have had their world and family torn apart by the ravaging Intergalactic Army! Read on as they join the Earth's Special Forces, and the famous Z Squad, as they fight to free the planet, and restore peace.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

EARTH – AGE 997

Once a planet of peace and prosperity. A place that was safe in a universe full of dangers.

For hundreds of years the people of Earth had faced many fierce terrors who threatened their way of life. Enemies who sought to sow ruin on the planet for all manner of selfish reasons.

The people of Earth have faced many adversities, but through their strength of will they had survived and triumphed over tyranny.

Until now.

For the last twenty years the Earth has been under siege by an enemy force known as the Intergalactic Army. The Intergalactic Army had demanded Earth's unconditional surrender at first contact. All would be spared, and the citizens of the planet would not have their way of life changed. In return they would require total and complete subservience. The Intergalactic Army claimed they served a being who ruled over an empire so vast it dwarfed the colonies conquered by the Emperor Frieza, and commanded an army a thousand-fold larger than the Frieza Force. The same army that had destroyed New Namek sixty years prior after its residents rejected the Intergalactic Army's offer, forcing the planet's residents to relocate themselves to Earth using the Namekian Dragon Balls.

Caught off guard by the sudden invasion, the people of Earth suffered many casualties in the early onslaught. The remnants of the planet's armies and ki sensitive fighters came together to form an organization dedicated to liberating the planet from the forces of the Intergalatic Army.

The Earth's Special Forces began a guerilla war, taking back lost territory, securing the four main cities as a relatively safe haven.

Over the past twenty years many skirmishes have been fought with the Intergalactic Army controlling roughly sixty percent of the planet from military bases established over the two decades, and the Earth's Special Forces keeping the peace from their own heavily defended headquarters. Fortified outposts protect outlying towns, and trained guards patrol the streets of the four cities day and night, prepared to repel an attack.

Now begins a turning point in the fight to defend the Earth. The planet and it's defenders are about to suffer a staggering loss, and this is where our story begins.

…

WEST CITY

Kale pushed open the front door. 'We're home' he called out, dropping his school bag on the floor by the door. His mother stuck her head into the hall way and greeted him with a smile.

'Hello Kale' she said as she walked into the hall and hung up his bag on a hook next to the door. 'How was school today?'

Kale shrugged. 'It was okay'. His expression changed as his sister Jean walked through the doorway.

'Maybe you should Jean how her day was' he said as a wide grin spread across his face.

Jean shot him a look, her eyes narrowed and their mother turned towards his sister.

'Why Jean, what does Kale mean?' she asked.

'He means nothing' Jean replied.

Their mother sighed. 'Did you get called into the principle's office again? Which girl did you have a fight with today?'

Jean remained silent and stood with her hands behind her back looking down at her feet.

Their mother bent down and put a hand on Jean's head. 'You can't go around fighting with other girls when they say something that annoys you.'

Kale was struggling not to laugh at this point. 'It wasn't a girl' he said.

Their mother looked round in surprise at him, then looked back at Jean.

'It was a boy' Jean mumbled as Kale howled with laughter.

Their mother sighed again and stood up. 'My point stands young lady. Your father and I will talk to you about this later.' She walked back down the hallway towards the kitchen.

Kale and Jean followed.

'Where's Dad?' Kale asked.

'Out in the backyard' his mother replied 'he's tinkering with his hoverbike. Get him to come inside and have a drink, he's been out there all day. Once you've said hello come back inside. You two can come with me to the market before dinner.'

Kale and Jean raced towards the back door and flung it open.

'Dad, dad' they called out as they ran towards the shed in the backyard.

There was a clang of a tool being dropped as their father walked out of the shed. He only had a brief moment to prepare himself before the two children slammed into him. He laughed and gathered them up in a tight hug before kneeling down on their level, a wide grin behind his red beard.

Kale and Jean's mother had black hair, but they both took after their father more. Kale's hair was a brown auburn, and Jean had inherited the same shade of red of their father. They were both fair skinned, tall and skinny. Kale was often mistook for someone several years older than twelve due to his height, a common occurrence that Kale took great pride in. Though she was a skinny ten year old, Jean had a powerful body, like a runner's, and she often competed in track sports at her school, and was begged to join the basketball team by the coach for her height.

'How was school kids?' their father asked.

'Good. Jean got into a fight' Kale said immediately.

A weary grimace replaced the smile on their father's face. 'Who was it this time?' he asked Jean.

'Chessy Bree' Jean replied. 'I only did it because he said girls can't play sports as good as boys can. When I told him I can run faster than him, he said boys can do things that girls can't. When I asked what he said girls can't fight.'

'And what did you do then?' their father asked with his eyebrows raised, even though he knew the answer.

'I slammed him on the ground, and made him eat dirt!' Jean said, a broad smile spreading across her face.

Kale smiled too. Despite his teasing, his sister and he were very close and often stood up for each other. Kale liked that his sister was tough, and could look out for herself.

Their father gave an exasperated sigh. 'What did your mother say?'

'She said that you and her would talk about it later.'

Their father nodded. 'And we will, don't think you can get out of this talk.'

He stood up and walked back into the garage. Inside was a Capsule Corporation hoverbike. The number 70 was blazed across the side. Their father said he was 'fixing' it, though more of the bike lay on the ground than the actual frame itself.

'We'll see you later Dad' Kale said. 'We're going to the market with Mum.'

'M-hm' came his reply, his attention already re-engrossed on the bike. 'See you two at dinner time'.

Kale and Jean raced back inside and their mother handed them several empty shopping bags.

As they walked out of the house and down the footpath, two members of the Earth's Special Forces walked past going the opposite direction. Their mother gave a polite smile, but Kale and Jean stared openly at the two. They walked abreast with their eyes fixed forward and ignored the family.

Soldiers were a common sight in the city. The ESF kept a large garrison in every main city, given the amount of civilians present. A city hadn't been attacked in years, but that didn't stop the rising tension that could be felt amongst the soldiers wherever you went in the city. More and more were being pulled onto the frontier as the fighting worsened on the front lines.

These two soldiers in particular looked like they had experienced their share of combat. Both of their armour had been scavenged from fallen Intergalactic Army members, a common sight among ESF troops. Both sets had several large cracks in them, and one soldier's was missing one of the pauldrons. The soldier whose amour was mostly intact had a long, jagged scar over his right eye, which her kept closed.

Kale stared after the two soldiers as they walked down the street, then hurried to catch up with his mother.

'Mum' he said 'I heard that the Earth's Special Forces is recruiting teenagers to fight.'

His mother looked around at him. 'Who put such a ridiculous idea in your head young man?'

'Milky'.

'When has anything Milky ever said been true?' his mother replied. 'The ESF does not recruit children to fight' she continued, though Kale thought she didn't sound entirely convinced.

'Maybe when I get old enough I could join the Special Forces' Kale said. 'I'd love to learn martial arts, and how to fly, and to control ki.'

His mother narrowed her eyes and grabbed his ear. 'Get that idea out of your head right now Kale' she said over his protests and continued to walk down the street. 'No son of mine is becoming a soldier.'

She released his ear and Kale immediately began rubbing the ache out of it.

'It was just a thought' he said quietly.

'Then let it stay that way.'

'I'd love to learn to fly' Jean said wistfully.

Their mother moved between them and put her arms around them as they walked towards the market. 'You two' she began 'are going to stay in school, grow up, and lead happy, safe, boring lives. Got it? I'll go to my grave before I let you join the Earth's Special Forces.'

…

The market was a noisy hub of activity. All manner of people were coming and going from all directions. Shopkeepers stood in the doorways of their stores calling out to people passing by, and stall vendors held up each of their wares trying to entice buyers.

Kale's family lived in one of the poorer neighbourhoods in the southern part of West City near the edge, but it saw a greater number of people from different walks of life.

Kale loved the market because he loved watching the many types of people that gathered in the one spot. Most of them were humans, but there were a few animal citizens. There was even the occasional Namek.

The Namekians of earth generally kept to themselves and their own colonies and towns, but every so often one had the need to come to one of the big cities. The Earth's government had given their people asylum when they had fled their own world when it was destroyed and granted them their own territory on the planet to call home. A number of the ESF was made up by Namekian troops, who were highly valued for their prowess in physical combat and skill with controlling ki energy.

Several kilometres south of West City there was a Namekian village, though and Kale and Jean had never been there and knew little of it's people and culture.

The two children followed their mother closely, staring at the people around them as she went from stall to stall. Each merchant greeted her enthusiastically and asked after her and her family's health.

They smiled at Kale and Jean and acted silly and told jokes to make them laugh.

Once their mother was done and all the shopping bags were full to bursting, the three headed home.

…

Their mother looked for the key and opened the front door to their house, ignoring the whining of the her children behind her about the ache in their arms from carrying the groceries.

'Enough you two' she told them 'It doesn't kill you to help your poor mother out.'

She opened the door and walked inside. 'Kale, you can help me unpack these. Jean, go tell your father to get his head out of the garage and come help me with dinner.'

Their mother looked over her shoulder at them. Kale had followed her in, but Jean was standing outside in the front yard looking up at the sky.

'Jean' she called out 'What are you looking at dear?'

Jean didn't answer immediately.

'Jean?' their mother called out again.

'There's a man in the sky Mum. He's just floating high up there.' Jean replied slowly.

Their mother was silent for a moment. 'It's probably just one of the soldiers, now please come inside Jean' she said calmly.

'Come on Jean' Kale said impatiently, stamping his feet and shaking his shopping bags. 'You've never been interested in soldiers before.'

Jean didn't move but stood looking up at the sky.

Then she said 'This one is different though. He's got a tail.'

 _A tail, what?_ Was what Kale thought, but before he could say anything he jumped as there was a crash of glass as his mother dropped her shopping bags and moved towards his sister.

'Jean get here now!' she cried out.

Jean's head slowly turned towards her mother's voice but before she could move there was a blinding flash of light followed by the deafening roar of an explosion.

Kale was flung onto his back as the house rocked from the force of the explosion and all of the windows shattered.

Kale got onto one knee from the fall. He saw his mother at the other end of the hall struggle to get to her feet. Blood ran down the side of her head.

'Kale!' she called out to him. 'Get Jean!'

 _Jean?_ He thought, his mind was too slow to think properly.

'Get Jean!' his mother called to him again. 'Get her and get to the bunker!'

Kale got to his feet, his legs shaking. _The bunker? What does she mean?_

In every house in West City there was a bunker for the citizens to take shelter in the event the city was attacked. The entrance to his family's was in the basement of their house, and the twelve years of his life they had never had to use it.

He could hear his mother shouting his and his sister's name, pleading with him to move. A small voice in his head was yelling _Move! Get to Jean and move!_

There was the sound of another explosion somewhere else in the city and the sound brought Kale's mind back to normal.

He shook his head as if there was water clogging his brain and ran outside. Jean was still standing in the front yard, but her eyes were wide with fear and her arms and legs were shaking.

Kale grabbed her arm and yelled at her to move inside. Jean either couldn't move or couldn't hear him. Her eyes were fixed on the sky.

Kale followed her gaze and saw a figure small in the sky. He was silhouetted against the orange sky as the sun was setting. A long tail swished back and forth, his shoulders were elongated, or it could have been the armour he wore. In his hand he held a yellow ball of light.

Kale spun his sister around to face him. 'Come on and move!' he shouted in her face. 'We need to get to the basement!'

Jean stared at his face, her eyes wide and glassy in panic and her mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.

Kale started to drag his sister back to the house, her feet stumbled but she followed. In the doorway of the house their mother lent out, her eyes almost closed, blood covering half of her face. Her arm was out stretched and her hand was open reaching for him.

Kale pulled his sister with one hand and reached out his other arm towards his mother, almost touching her.

Then there was another explosion and the world was thrown into chaos.

Kale and Jean were flung back from the house. They hit the ground hard and rolled crashing through the yard's front fence and landed on the road hard.

Kale groaned and sat up slowly. He pulled Jean up as he got to his feet and they stumbled back into the yard towards their house.

Their house was gone. A pile of rubble sat where their house had stood a moment ago. Not comprehending what he was seeing, Kale kept walking. When they got to end of the yard's path where the doorway was they stopped and Kale's heart leapt into his throat.

A long pale arm was hanging out of the rubble at an awkward angle. The finger nails were broken and bloody, but there was no mistaking it for anybody's but their mother's.

The two children didn't move. Kale couldn't breathe. His throat was moving but couldn't breathe in any air. Jean was making a noise that sounded like a choked sigh.

Kale's vision went hazy and he barely noticed the strong arm wrapping around his waist and carrying him away.

Blasts were exploding all around them. The lights flashed through Kale's eyelids and the rush of hot air hitting his face brought him back to reality.

'Wait' he said dully. 'We need to go back.'

The person carrying him didn't answer.

'Hey, we need to go back' he said, weakly hitting the person carrying him in the side.

'There's nothing to go back to' his father's voice said.

Kale opened his eyes. All he could see was the ground rushing underneath him as his father ran as fast as he could. Explosions flashed and lit the sky as the sun set lower. All round them was the crash of ki blasts. People were screaming, calling for help, and mercy.

Kale twisted under his father's arm. Soldiers were flying all across the sky. It was impossible to tell which army they belonged to.

'Dad we need to go back, stop!

His father looked down at him with an angry look on his face. 'Stop moving! I need you-'

An enormous explosion flashed behind them and they were flung forward. A fiery pain lanced up Kale's back. When he hit the ground stars flashed before his eyes and he gasped in pain when he collided with a the side of a car.

Kale stood up trying to shake his senses back. Jean was struggling to get to her feet beside him.

Kale gasped as he tried to move his right arm. When he couldn't move it he looked down and saw it was hanging limply by his side. He could feel someone grabbing his leg trying to pull him away from the battle.

Someone was calling his name. Kale looked up and saw their father running towards them.

Their father was yelling something at them but Kale couldn't hear what he was saying. One of the soldiers flew over head and there was a bright flash of light and when Kale looked again their father had vanished.

Kale looked round at Jean. She was staring at the spot where their father had last been with a blank expression on her face. Kale grabbed her arm with his left hand and began to drag her further away from the city.

'Come on Jean' he said, his voice heavy with fatigue 'We've got to go.'

As the children moved further down the road away from the city, Kale heard a voice shout behind them.

'Hey! It looks like I missed a couple of small fry!'

Kale looked back and saw a soldier that looked like a man with a pig's head. Behind him was a pale alien with wide eyes and big lips like a fish. Both of them were wearing the armour of Intergalatic Army soldiers, and they were heading straight for Kale and Jean.

A light glowed in the pig-man's hand as they gained in the children.

'Die!' he yelled as he drew back his arm and threw an energy blast at them.

The blast sped towards them but just before it hit a figure appeared out of no where in front of Kale and Jean. The stranger struck the blast attack with his forearm and for a moment it stopped in mid air before ricocheting away over the heads of the soldiers and exploding behind them.

For a split second Kale thought the stranger was his father but when the dust cleared it was a tall Namek that stood before them. By the light of the burning city Kale could see he wore a long coat made in tradition Namekian fashion, with a white collar. He couldn't see the Namek's face because his eyes were fixed on the two soldiers before him.

'What the...?' the pig man began.

Before the soldiers could do anything the Namek thrust both of his hands forward, fingers splayed and fired his own blast attack at the pig man.

The pig man gave a short scream and then vanished in a blinding yellow blast.

The pale soldier gasped. A look of anger contorted his features, and he rushed at the Namek head on.

'Why you!' He yelled.

As he sped towards them a smaller Namek came out the sky above the soldier catching him off guard. The Namek's elbow slammed down on the back of the soldier's neck and as the soldier crashed into the ground the tall Namek shot another ki blast to finish him off.

The smaller Namek glided towards them and called out to the tall Namek.

'Did you see that Corro? Did ya see me?!' he asked gleefully.

The tall Namek crossed his arms and glared at the other Namek.

'Yes I did see' he said reproachfully. 'I told you to stay back at the village Reed. It's too dangerous for you to be here.'

'Yeah right. The elders told you to stay back on the first place.'

Corro sighed and turned to face the humans.

'Enough. We'll both be getting a scolding when we get home. Lets get these three back.'  
Despite all the chaos and the pain from his injuries Kale wondered what the Namek meant.

'Three?' he choked out.

'Yes' the Namek replied. 'He is with you isn't he?' motioning towards Kale's leg.

Kale looked down and saw that there was a small boy clutching his leg. _He must have been what I felt. I thought it was Jean._ The boy looked up at Kale, tears were streaming down his face and his eyes shone with fear.

Kale looked back up at the Namek who smiled at him.

'I'm Corro. And this is my brother Reed.'

The other Namek Reed landed beside Corro, a smile on his face too. He wore a pair of purple pants and a loose purple shirt tucked into a red belt.

'Hey! You guys don't look so good. Don't worry though, you'll be fine once we get you back to our village.'

Kale smiled weakly at the young Namek.

'I'm Kale, and this is Jean. Thanks for the offer, but I don't think we can get very far.'

Reed did a small jump and laughed.

'Don't worry, my brother will take care of you.'

Corro stepped forward and put one hand over Kale's right arm, and another over his back.

'Just hold still' Corro said gently.

A soft blue light began emanating from the Namek's hands, and a strange energy began to slowly flow into Kale. The burning of his back faded as what felt like cool water ran down his back. His arm itched and his bones clacked as they fitted back together.

When Corro was finished Kale held up his fist and flexed his fingers which worked perfectly.

'Better?' Corro asked.

Kale smiled. 'I still feel like I've ran a marathon, but at least it doesn't hurt anymore.'

Corro turned to Jean and knelt down in front of her.

'What about you?' he asked. 'Where does it hurt?'

Jean didn't answer. Instead she just looked at Corro with a puzzled look on her face. The Namek looked at her expectantly but Jean still didn't answer. It was only then that Kale noticed for the first time that blood was leaking out of Jean's ears.

'I don't think she can hear you' Kale told the Namek and pointed to the blood on Jean's head.

Reed sucked air in through his teeth and grimaced but Corro only nodded.

'Not a problem. I can fix that.'

He held his hands over Jean's ears and again a blue light shone as he began to heal the inner workings of Jean's ears.

When he was finished Corro snapped his fingers next to her ear and asked 'how's that?'

'That's good' Jean said in a small voice 'Thank-you.'

Jean began to fall forward but Corro caught her before she hit the ground. Kale's legs felt very shaky. He bent down and picked up the boy before he pulled Kale over. The boy gripped Kale's school shirt tightly and began to cry into his shoulder.

'Is your village far?' he asked Corro. 'I don't think I can walk very far.'

'No need' Corro said with a smile. 'I'll carry you both.

'That's good' Kale said as his knees gave way. Corro caught his around the waist then gently took off and began to fly away from West City.

Reed circled around them in the sky his eyes fixed on the city watching for anyone following them.

Kale watched Reed as he flew trying to keep his eyes from closing. _I hope that Reed can teach us to fly._ He was dimly aware that Corro had begun to descend over the forest south of West City towards a clearing in the forest. From the last rays of the sun Kale could see clusters of white buildings and make out the figures of the village residents.

As Corro and Reed landed a crowd gathered around the group. Kale pried the boy away from his shirt and set him down on the ground. The boy wrapped his arms around Kale's leg and continued to cry.

Kale looked around at the Nameks. He had never seen so many before in his life. Most of them looked to be very elderly. Corro and Reed were the youngest. There weren't any other children. All of them wore a similar fashion of clothing in traditional Namekian style. All of them looked uncomfortable with the strangers that landed in their midst.

One especially wizened Namek stepped forward. His heavy brow was set in a frown, and he was glaring at Corro and Reed, his hands clenched into fists by his sides.

'Corro just what were you thinking?!' he demanded. 'We told you not to go, and not only do you disobey us, but you take Reed with you too and put him in danger!'

Corro stood tall, still holding Jean who was asleep in his arms.

'I wanted to help the people of West City. We arrived just in time to save these three from two soldiers.'

'Regardless of your intentions you could have been going to your death! Or worse, you could have been captured and tortured to reveal the location of our village!'

Corro shook his head. 'There's no use talking about what might have been. We're both back here and we're safe. If you want to talk about what might have been, maybe if we had left earlier and disobeyed your wishes sooner we might have save a handful more lives.'

The memory of his father's last moments flashed before Kale's eyes and he struggled to hold back tears. A storm of emotions was brewing in his tired mind. Struggling to hold it in, Kale covered his eyes with his forearm. He could hear Corro arguing with the other Nameks.

Kale felt someone touch his elbow. He looked down and saw Reed looking up at him with a concerned look on his face.

'Kale, are you okay?' the young Namek asked.

Kale became concious that everyone in the clearing was watching him. It was the final thing his exhausted body and mind could take, so he closed his eyes and slumped backwards onto the grassy ground into unconsciousness.

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE

The next morning when Kale woke up it took him a moment to realise why he was lying in an unfamiliar bed. Then all of yesterday's events came back to him. Kale began to cry and couldn't stop. He put his head under the bed covers and let all of his emotion out.

For hours he lay there and every time he was tried to pull himself together, he would think again of his mother or father or home. Nothing mattered in that moment. Not where he was, not what happened to Jean, or what happened to him. At one point he heard somebody come into the room. He ignored them and they left quickly.

The sun was setting when Kale finally found the will to get up and walk out of the bedroom. His whole body felt exhausted and his eyes hurt from crying so much.

Kale pulled aside the curtain that hung over the doorway to the bed room and walked into the living room of the house. The house and all of the furniture was made of white stone. It had a simple design and was plainly decorated. Dusk light shine in through glass windows but Kale couldn't see any signs it had electricity.

Sitting on plush cushions around the table talking in low voices were Corro, Reed and the elderly Namek who had admonished Corro the night before. The old Namek fell silent when he noticed Kale had entered the room. The other two Namekians followed his gaze and broke off their conversation.

Corro stood up and came over to Kale.

Putting a hand on his shoulder he asked 'Kale, are you feeling any better? You must be exhausted after last night.'

'I'm okay' Kale croaked, his voice hoarse.

The elderly Namek at the table whispered something in Reed's ear. Reed got up, grabbed a clay jar off the kitchen counter and ran out of the house.

Corro put a hand on Kale's back and led him over to the table. As they approached the elderly Namek stood up.

'Kale, this is Elder Vert. He is the oldest member of our village, and the one presides over all of the Namek's in this area' Corro explained to Kale.

Vert held out his hand and Kale shook it.

'I must apologise if I seemed inhospitable last night' the old Namek said 'The whole village and I was upset about Corro and young Reed going to West City.'

The Namek smiled and it lifted years off his wrinkled face.

'You, your sister and your brother are welcome in our village' he said.

Reed back inside the house clutching the the jar and set it down in front of Kale. It was filled with crystal clear water.

'Here Kale. You should drink something' Reed said sitting back down next to Vert.

Kale lifted the jar and drank deeply. The water was cool and as he swallowed he realised just how hungry he was. _The last meal I had was at lunch yesterday, so it's been over twenty four hours since I ate something!_ Just the thought was enough to make his stomach ache.

The Nameks must have guessed what Kale was thinking.

'If you feel up to it Kale, we should head over to the house where your sister and brother are staying' Vert said standing up. 'We were planning to have dinner there and hoped that they would join us'.

Kale stood up and followed the three Nameks outside. The sunset had turned the sky a burning scarlet which cast a red glow over the white stone buildings of the village. The houses of the village were almost all identical, with the same squat, domed style as Corro's. The residents had all retreated indoors and the sounds of talk and laughter could be heard from the windows of the houses they passed. Somewhere in the village Kale could hear the trickling of a stream.

Vert stopped at the doorway of one one the houses near the centre of the village, knocked twice on a stone door knocker built into the wall then ducked his head and passed through the doorway.

Corro and Reed followed, and after a moments hesitation, Kale did too.

Inside there were five Nameks who all stood up and bade their guests welcome. Two of them looked to be near Vert's age. There was a flurry of movement as the guests mingled with their hosts. Corro and another Namek led Kale to the table and sat him on a stool.

Vert and the other Nameks left the room and returned a moment later bearing large wooden patters piled high with all sorts of different fruits and vegetables. Strangely though, Kale couldn't see meat, bread or grains of any sort as the trays were lowered onto the table.

Corro took a seat next to Kale.

'We only drink water for sustenance he explained, gesturing at the food. 'But Nameks learnt long ago that a lot of the fruits and vegetables of Earth have a very high water content.'

Corro smiled. 'The elders always say that drinking water got very boring.'

One of the Nameks led Jean and the boy from West City into the dining area. Jean sat on Kale's other side, and the boy on her's.

Jean looked as exhausted as Kale felt, and the boy was still crying.

'What's your brother's name?' Corro asked Kale and Jean. 'We haven't been able to get anything out of him, even his name. He seems too distraught.'

Kale looked at the boy closely for the first time. He looked to be very young, about three or fousnyears old. His brown hair was stuck over his forehead wet with sweat, and his face was red and puffy from crying.

'He's not my brother' Kale told Corro. 'He grabbed onto me when we were running. I didn't notice until you and Reed saved us.'

A Namek seated on Corro's other side spoke up. 'His name is Peppe. He also mentioned he saw his mother disappear in a flash of light, as he put it' he said, dropping the level of his voice so only Corro and Kale could hear.

The image of his father running towards him and vanishing in a flash of light jumped into Kale's mind, and he quickly grabbed a mango and ducked his head to avoid anyone see him trying not to cry.

The sweetness of the fruit stoked his ravenous hunger and he quickly finished it and reached for another. The boy Peppe tried to eat but couldn't hold back his tears, which ran down his face mixing with the sticky juice of the fruit. Jean just sat, as still as a statue.

Around the table the Nameks made polite and quiet conversation with each other out of respect for the three Humans.

Eventually Kale turned to Corro and asked 'Tomorrow could we head back to West City?'

Silence fell around the table and all of the Nameks' eyes turned to Corro.

'Thank-you for your hospitality' Kale told Corro 'But we need to get back...'

 _Back home_ stuck in Kale's throat, so he left it at that.

Corro looked like he was trying to say something difficult, so Kale pressed on, not wanting to appear rude or ungrateful.

'We've been a lot of trouble for you. I was thinking that Jean and I could stay at a friend of our family for now, if we could trouble you to take us back to the city.'

When Corro didn't reply, an older Namek beside Vert spoke up.

'City's gone boy' he said.

A feeling of cold crept over Kale. It was a new feeling. Instead of grief, for the first time since they had fled West City Kale felt fear.

'What do you mean?' he asked.

The old Namek sighed and rubbed his forehead before speaking again.

'It's gone. West City is destroyed. The whole thing's a pile of rubble. There's nothing left.'

Kale didn't say anything. Beside him, Jean sat just as still, as if she hadn't heard.

'It's true' Corro said gently. 'We flew there this morning.'

Kale swallowed before asking 'Did you see any people? You might have missed them.'

'We didn't go all the way. We didn't need to. All that's left of the city was a smoking ruin. We didn't see anyone. No people or soldiers. It's deserted.'

Kale looked down at his plate, his appetite completely gone.

The room was silent for a while, the only sound being Peppe's quiet crying.

Eventually Vert said gently 'Corro told us what he saw during the attack. Is there any family that you can stay with?'

Kale shook his head, unable to speak.

Vert paused before saying 'You have been through a terrible ordeal. My people are no strangers to suffering. At our worst hour you Humans accepted us without hesitation. You three are welcome to stay with us for as long as you want. Everyone is in agreement.'

Kale looked up. Around him on all the faces of the Namek's were wide, warm smiles. He felt humbled by their generosity.

'I...we, can't thank you all enough' he said finally. 'You have been so kind to us all, I only wish-'

Kale broke off. Someone was loudly and frantically beating the door knocker against the wall.

Vert, Corro and two other Nameks got up and walked into the entrance way of the house.

'What is it? Vert called out.

'Elder Vert, you must come quickly!' came the reply. 'Two strangers have just arrived.'

Vert opened the door and a short Namek rushed in.

'Who are they?' Vert asked. 'Are they soldiers?'

'Yes' the other Namek replied 'but not IA soldiers. They are from the Earth's Special Forces!'

Vert stood silently but around the table the other Nameks bent their heads together and began to whisper amongst themselves.

'What is it they want?' Vert asked after a pause.

'They're asking about survivors from West City' the other Namek replied, looking over at Kale and the other children.

Vert shot a glance at them as well before telling the Namek in a low voice 'Alright, I'll speak with them.'

Vert walked out of the house. The rest of the Nameks, including Corro and Reed followed leaving Kale, Jean and Peppe alone.

 _What could ESF soldiers be doing here? Unless they've come to take us away._

Kale had heard that people who had their homes and villages destroyed and had no family or friends to turn to for help were often forced to settle in refugee camps. With the focus being on the war their wasn't enough resources to resettle those displaced by the fighting.

After a minute of thought Kale stood up and went outside. Jean didn't look at him as he got up and Peppe only cried.

The two soldiers stood in the centre of the village. What looked like the entire population of the village surrounded them. The only light came from the last dying rays of dusk. Vert was talking animately with them. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides.

As Kale got closer he could hear what Vert and the soldiers were saying.

'What do you mean you wont take them?!' Vert demanded angrily. 'It's your job to protect the people of this planet!'

'I already told you old man, we aren't here looking for refugees' one of the soldiers replied. Half of his face was obscured by a bloody bandage that was wrapped around his head.

Kale looked at the other soldier and noticed that he had a large scar over his eye. Kale realised that these two must be the same soldiers his family had passed on the street the day before.

The bloodied soldier continued 'We're looking for soldiers, from either side, that may-'

Vert cut him off. 'I don't care what excuses you make, it is clear that you do not care one iota about what happens-'

The old Namek stopped talking as the soldier with the scar stepped forward. He had a massive mane of black hair, and with his broken armour and scar he looked very intimidating. For a moment it looked as though he was going to hit Vert, but instead he put a hand on his comrade's shoulder.

'Come on' he said to the other soldier 'lets get out of here.'

The two turned away from Vert and began to walk away. The villagers parted before them, muttering darkly to themselves, but the soldiers strode on, eyes fixed ahead.

Kale didn't remember telling his legs to to move, but when he blinked he was running forward, telling the soldiers 'wait!'

Everybody looked around and stared at Kale as he stood between Vert and the two ESF soldiers.

The soldiers stared wide eyed at him, unsure of what to say.

Vert put a hand on Kale's shoulder and said 'Don't bother with them young one.'

Kale ignored him and said to the soldiers 'take me.'

The look of surprise on the soldier with the bandaged face changed to an annoyed scowl.

He turned and walked towards Kale and stopped in front of him, so Kale had to crane his neck to look at his face.

'Didn't you hear boy?' he asked Kale. 'We aren't taking any refugees. Someone will come here in a couple of weeks to take you to a refugee camp.'

He turned and began to walk away but Kale called out 'I don't want to go to a refugee camp, I want to join the Earth's Special Forces!'

The Nameks around them gasped and Vert cried 'Kale, no!'

Kale shook Vert's hand off his shoulder and walked forward up to the soldier, his hands clenched into fists so hard his fingers hurt.

He looked up into the face of the soldier again, but this time it didn't feel like he was towering over Kale.

'I want to fight.'

The bloodied soldier didn't move or speak.

Kale knew what he must have looked like to the two of them.

A child, in a bloody, dirty and torn school shirt, eyes still red from crying so hard.

When the bloodied soldier didn't speak, the other with the scar strode forward and bent down and put his face close to Kale's. There was a strange expression on his face. He looked like he was sizing Kale up, but there was something else. A small modicum of respect?

'What's your name son?' he asked finally.

'Kale.'

The grizzled soldier was silent for a moment, then said 'If you want to join the Special Forces, come with us.'

He stood up and began to walk away. 'Make sure you don't fall behind' he called back over his shoulder 'we wont slow down for you.'

The Nameks began to all speak at once, trying to dissuade Kale from leaving.

Kale turned back to face Vert. The old Namek was one of the few who was silent. A dumbfounded look was spread across his face.

'I'm sorry Vert' Kale told him 'I appreciate everything you and your people have done for my sister and I, and this feels like I'm throwing your hospitality back in your face, but this is something I have to do.'

Vert didn't reply. He simply stared silently at Kale.

Kale turned to Corro. 'Thanks again Corro. I hope we meet again. Look after my sister please.'

'Of course' Corro replied after a pause. He too looked shocked by Kale's decision.

Kale turned away and began to walk after the two soldiers. The village had fallen silent. The only sound was the heavy footfalls of the soldiers feet, and the trickling of the nearby stream.

The three reached the edge of the trees as the last of the sun's light dipped below the horizon. Just before they stepped into the forest, someone called out Kale's name behind him.

Kale looked back and saw Jean running after him. He turned to face her and when she stopped in front of him, he could see tears were welling in her eyes.

'Jean, I-' Kale began, but found he had no words to say to her.

Jean's whole body shook as she struggled to hold her emotion back.

Finally she said 'Please Kale, you can't leave me too.'

Kale's breath caught in his throat. He tried to breathe, tried to think of something to say to her that would explain his choice.

The two soldiers were silent behind him. The Nameks were looking on at the two Humans. Kale could see Peppe looking out at them from behind the leg of one of the villagers.

Kale looked back at Jean. Her blue eyes swam with tears, but they didn't fall.

He swallowed, but all he could say was 'I'm sorry Jean. I'll come back for you once I'm strong enough.'

Jean didn't reply, so Kale turned and walked away. He strode past the soldiers and into the dark of the forest, vanishing from sight.

The two soldiers exchanged a glance, then followed after him.

The Nameks began to disperse. Vert stayed in the centre of the village, standing still. Corro and Reed moved towards Jean, but stood a short distance behind her, not wanting to move any closer out of respect.

Jean stood in the same spot, her head, shoulders and arms shaking as her tears began to fall.

…

A way of life devastated, lives changed, and promises made. Does Kale have what it takes to join the Earth's Special Forces and stand against the merciless onslaught of the Intergalactic Army?

And what about Jean? How will she fare alone in new place full of strangers?

Will the two young children prosper? Or will the horrors of their past come back to haunt them?

There's only one way that you're going to find out, and that's to read on in the very first exciting chapter, of Dragon Ball: Age 1000!


	2. Dragon Ball Saga - Part One

DRAGON BALL SAGA

PART ONE: A WISH MADE UPON A DRAGON

Author's note: This story takes elements from the Dragon Ball universe, but is set in a similar setting as Dragon Ball Online. It is not necessary, but I would recommend doing a quick read on the Wiki in regards to topics such as Gohan's Groundbreaking Science, and the advances made among humans in regard to Ki manipulation. Some events from the story of DBO are also used, such as the destruction of New Namek, and the characters portrayed in the story are loosely based on the promotional characters for the game.

Also, I have chosen to primarily use the English names for titles such as the name's of techniques.

...

 _CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA_

EGAO URUTORA ZETTO DE 

KYÔ MO AI-YAI-YAI-YAI-YAI

SPARKING!

...

THE EARTH'S SPECIAL FORCES HQ – AGE 1000

 _A wash of colours and images danced before his eyes. Images of a place almost forgotten, a place he only dared venture in his dreams._

 _A pale and bloody arm was out stretched towards him from beneath a pile of rubble. It's fingers clutched at the air trying to grab him._

 _A woman called his name._

 _When he reached out to grab the hand, it was as cold as ice. Every time._

 _It seemed so full of life, but the moment his fingers clasped around the hand it became still and unmoving. No matter how hard he pulled, he could never pull it's owner from beneath the rubble._

 _A man was calling his name. He saw a man he almost recognised running towards him. Then the next instant the man would vanish in a flash of light._

 _Then the man would be running again, but he would never reach him, for there would be another flash of light._

 _Again, and again, and again._

 _Someone was calling his name._

Someone was calling his name.

'Kale, Kale!'

Kale's eyes snapped open. He blinked to quickly adjust his eyes to the sudden bright light of day. The image of a white arm slowly faded from his mind, and instead he focused on the green canvas of the bunk above him.

Standing beside him was a tall Namek Warrior. He had been the one calling Kale's name. His name was Nett.

Nett stood a clear foot above Kale. His arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks.

Despite his impressive physical appearance he was know among the Earth's Special forces as a skilled wielder of Ki attacks.

He had a heavy brow and his face was two toned. Most of his skin was a dark green, the most common colour among Namekians, but that of his face, and the muscles on his arms, legs and chest was of a yellowy-green .

At the moment, Nett wore a blue tight fitting singlet, and a pair of skin tight black pants, and black armoured boots.

He had a stern face, but Kale knew he had a good heart, and was someone you could trust and respect.

Currently, Nett was frowning, but Kale knew he wasn't angry by the small smile he wore.

Nett kicked Kale's foot under the blanket of the cot he was lying under and said 'Come on, get up Kale. Today's the big day. Your first real assignment.'

The Namek turned and walked away as Kale sat up and threw the blanket off, grogginess and the memory of his nightmare forgotten in the wake of Nett's announcement.

'What is it?' Kale asked, standing up, 'Have we received the orders yet?'

Nett crossed the small space of the tent floor and stopped in front of a small square mirror that hung on the tent wall to look at himself.

'Not sure yet,' he told Kale, 'we haven't had any word on the mission yet. All I can tell you is that it's going to be a big one, and a hell of a way to start your time with the Z Squad. So get dressed and get over to the mess hall to get something to eat something quickly. Meet us at the command tent in fifteen.'

He paused to stop admiring his reflection and looked over his shoulder in the mirror at Kale standing in his underwear with fists clenched in excitement, a wide smile across his face, standing in the middle of the room.

'What are you doing!' Nett thundered, turning around to face Kale. 'Get dressed and get moving!'

As Nett strode to the tent exit Kale rushed over to the mirror and began to frantically wash himself with water from the basin beneath the mirror.

Nett paused just before he left the tent, looked over his shoulder at Kale and asked, 'Was it the same dream?'

Kale looked up from the basin into the mirror, water droplets falling from his face and into the water below, and looked at Nett's reflection in the mirror.

He didn't speak, merely nodded.

Nett looked down at the floor of the tent for a couple of seconds then left leaving Kale alone in the tent.

Kale briefly studied himself in the mirror before returning to frantically scrubbing himself.

Over the last three years his body had changed dramatically. His body had once been that of a teenager bordering on puberty, threatening to become a long-limbed lanky mess.

Now his body was covered in hard muscles. Because of his aged they weren't large, but they were well defined.

Since joining the Earth's Special Forces Kale had been through a strict training regime.

He had been right about the army accepting teenagers. The other teenagers were mostly orphans like himself. They were all put into training class to make their bodies stronger, and taught basic martial arts and Ki manipulation.

Kale and the other children, roughly twenty in total who were all Humans, were told that only one of them would have the opportunity to join the ESF.

Over the next two and a half years Kale had thrown himself into his training, focusing all of his will power in being the best. In addition to training, the young recruits performed menial duties around the Special Forces Headquarters. It wasn't easy, and many of the recruits had dropped out over the first few months.

Kale had persisted and over time his skill became apparent to the soldiers in charge of the recruits.

Promoted to a lowly grunt squad, Kale had quickly demonstrated in several skirmishes a skill in combat and determination that made it clear to the army's officers that he was being wasted in a mere attack and retreat unit.

A golden opportunity soon opened up. One of the members of the famed Z Squad had been killed in action on an especially dangerous mission.

The Z Squad was the most famous of the units in the ESF army. The different squads were lettered A to Z, Z being last letter of the alphabet and hence the highest ranking and strongest fighters in the world. Nett was the leader of the unit.

Kale had been honoured to be named a member of the Z Squad and was determined to show the faith that had been showed in him was not misplaced. Since joining he had only participated in small battles, nothing serious.

Until today. Hence his excitement over Nett's announcement.

Kale dried his face and body and examined his face, deciding that he didn't need to shave this month. In some ways, he was still an ordinary fifteen year old.

He briefly struck a pose in front of the small mirror to show off his muscles, O _h yeah,_ before hurrying back over to his cot, and flinging open the trunk at the foot of the bed.

Grabbing a fresh set of clothes from inside Kale stood and quickly dressed. He wore a long sleeved black skin tight shirt, and a pair of skin tight black pants.

The material of the clothes was strong and rarely tore outside of battle. It was designed to regulate the wearer's body temperature to make it comfortable in both hot and cold conditions.

It's design had been easy to study and reproduce by the egg heads of the Earth's Special Forces.

Over his dark clothes Kale pulled on his armour. The armour was very light, but very strong. It came in a small size, but stretched to meet the wearer's physique.

Copying the armour's design had been met with less success. Sets were often scavenged from defeated Intergalactic Army soldiers. Kale's reflected his newbie status.

The armour had passed through the hands of several owners. It had originally been designed for maximum protection. It had wide pauldrons, and both a cod piece and armour that hung from the sides to protect the calves of the wearer.

At least it had before it came into Kale's possession.

The chest and back's black paint was scratched. The pauldrons and leg protection had once been painted tan. Both the left and right pauldron had been blasted off. The calf protection was still intact, though the codpiece had been removed by one of the previous owners.

Most notably was the large hole that had been blasted through the stomach and out the back. The armour was a liability, and Kale had hoped that he would have been furnished with an intact set following his promotion. He had been wrong.

In addition to the chest piece Kale pulled on armoured gauntlets and armoured boots. These too had been taken from fallen enemies. Though intact, they were mismatching colours. One gauntlet was black, while the other was a dark purple. Both of the boots were a dark cool green.

Last of all Kale fixed a green scouter to the side of his head over his left eye. It was an older model, but it worked perfectly.

Once he had finished dressing Kale rushed over to the mess hall. Ignoring the calls and cajoles of the numerous members of the army already inside, Kale grabbed a tray and bolted down a quick breakfast.

 _At least eating this fast has a perk. I can't taste how bad the food is._

Finishing his breakfast Kale bolted to the command tent with two minutes to spare.

Two of the other members of the Z Squad were already waiting when he arrived.

Both of them laughed as Kale bent over trying to catch his breath. Kale looked up at them. They might be laughing, but their smiles told him that they weren't laughing at him. Both of them cut a very striking figure.

Kinwa was a head shorter than Kale. She had shoulder length white hair, which she was constantly flicking out of her bright blue eyes. Kinwa disregarded any sort of armour in favour of attire that suited her training.

She wore a short black sleeveless top that left her midriff bare, a wide white cloth belt, and a pair of tight black shorts that covered her calves, over which she wore a long black skirt that left the sides of her legs bare and free to move.

Pulled up over her knees she wore a pair of dark purple tights of the same material Kale's clothes were made of. She wore a pair of green and red trimmed boots, that matched the arm bands that covered her forearms.

Kinwa tied the whole outfit together with a purple scarf she wore tied around her neck.

Over the front of her shirt she bore the insignia of the New Crane School. Kinwa had graduated top of her class. Despite her short stature and petite frame, Kale knew her to be a deadly warrior. She was a master at manipulating Ki, and he had seen her easily bring down large numbers of weak enemies.

The other member of the Z Squad was Lanthal.

Commonly called Lan for short, she stood a few inches above Kale. She had long dark brown hair, which she wore tied back in a pony tail, leaving a few strands to frame her face.

Lan wore a much simpler outfit than Kinwa, but no less impressive. She wore a black tank top tucked into a pair of grey pants, which she had tucked into a pair of yellow Capsule Corp. boots.

Over this she wore a dark black trench coat made of soft leather with a high collar that she folded down. The right sleeve had been removed and a makeshift piece of armour for her right shoulder had been made from a piece of brown leather.

She kept her right arm bare to show off the number of tattoos she had. Starting on her upper arm, just below her shoulder was a number of strokes grouped in fours with a fifth line through them. There were over forty strokes that continued down her arm above her elbow.

It wasn't the coat or the tattoos that gave Lanthal her fearsome appearance. Slung over her back was a hand-and-a-half sword with a wide hilt she kept in a simple brown sheath. Lan boasted that each stroke she had tattooed onto her arm represented an enemy that had fallen to her sword.

Lan had studied with the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School, and was known to be a master swordswoman.

A long piece of thin black material was wrapped around her right wrist and was tied on her forearm allowing her a better grip on her sword. On her left hand she wore a leather glover that left the palm of her hand as well as her middle and ring finger bare.

Both of the woman were older than Kale. Kinwa was in her early twenties, and Lan was eighteen. They had both forgone scouters in favour of sensing their enemies from their Ki.

Kinwa crossed her arms and asked Kale slyly, 'So Kale, have you heard about the big assignment?'

The warrior was known for her cool demeanour, but she had always been kind to Kale.

'Haven't heard much,' Kale replied, straitening up, 'Nett just mentioned that it was going to throw me in the deep end.'

'Damn right,' Lanthal said, her brown eyes shone with excitement, 'I haven't heard much either, but all the COs have been abuzz lately.'

She crossed her arms and puffed out her chest.

'And we're going to be in the centre of it.'

Kale couldn't help but grin as he shared in her enthusiasm. Lan was known to have a relaxed personality, but when it came time to fight she became a whole different person entirely.

She was a proud warrior, who delighted in vanquishing foes and who knew her position in the Earth's Special Forces was well earned.

Lan attributed her skill on combat and confident personality to her Saiyan heritage.

When he joined the Z Squad, Kale was keen to find out as much about his new comrades as possible. He was shocked to learn that there had once been a small number of an alien race known as the Saiyans that had lived on the Earth several hundred years ago.

Delighted that she had found such an interested listener, Lan had shared much about her Saiyan heritage and Saiyan culture in general over the few months Kale had been with the Z Squad, much to the exasperation of the other members who had all been treated to similar lectures concerning Saiyans many times before. Lan had explained that despite being a different species, Saiyans were very similar to humans, which had allowed them to interbreed.

Lan may have been a human, but she was fiercely proud of her Saiyan heritage.

Kale squatted on the ground next to the others. As he watched various members of the ESF go by, his mind thought back to the dream he'd that last night.

It wasn't the first time Kale had dreamt of the day his parents died. For the first month after he joined the Special Forces he had woken up each night drench in sweat, calling out for his mother and father. Amongst the young recruits he hadn't been the only one.

Over the years the nightmare came less and less, until Kale had hoped he'd stop having it altogether. But for whatever reason, since he had joined the Z Squad he had begun to have it again.

Sometimes Kale wondered if it was his Mother's spirit haunting him from beyond the grave as punishment for disobeying her wishes and joining the military. Since he had begun having the dream again there would occasionally be a different, more terrifying ending to it where Kale would succeed in pulling his mother from beneath the rubble pile, only to find that her body had rotted away to a corpse half eaten by worms and other insects. That version had happened only a few times, but each night it had Kale woke up screaming.

Kale let out a choked sob which he quickly stifled behind one hand.

Kinwa was standing next to him and had heard. She looked down at him and asked, 'Are you alright Kale?'

Kale turned away and pushed his dreams out of his mind.

'I'm fine,' he replied.

Kinwa paused before asking, 'Same dream?'

Kale didn't answer at first. He watched a bear-man lumber past carrying a towering stack of wooden crates before nodding.

Kinwa didn't push the matter and the group fell silent until Lan spoke up.

'Does anyone want to know what I dreamt about last night?' she asked the other two.

'No,' Kinwa replied immediately.

Lan placed one hand over her heart in mock emotion.

'Kinwa, my dear friend, you wound me.'

Kinwa rolled her eyes before saying, 'I don't need to ask because I already know what your dream was about.'

Raising her eyebrows in feigned ignorance Lan asked her, 'How on Earth could you know what my dream was about before I told you? Are you some sort of god?'

Kinwa turned to face Lan. 'Because all of your dreams are about Saiyans,' she stated in a bored voice.

'But can you guess that this one was about Saiyans?'

'I don't need to guess, I already know.'

'You don't know that for certain. Go on and ask me what my dream was about.'

Kinwa snorted. 'I'm not going to fall for that one Lan.'

'Go on and ask me, I promise it wasn't about Saiyans.'

'I swear Lan, if you're lying...'

'You wont know for certain unless you ask me.'

'I'm not interested.'

'Come on. Aren't you just the teeeensiest bit interested.'

'...Fine. What was your dream about.'

'I dreamt I was locked in a cake shop and I ate strawberry cream cakes all night.'

'...Really?'

'Of course not Kinwa, that'd be far too ridiculous. I dreamt about Saiyans.'

Kinwa growled through gritted teeth and stamped the ground as Lan fell back and rolled around on the ground howling with laughter. Kale grinned as he watched Lan on the ground. After a monent Kinwa's frustration faded and she too smiled and laughed with Lan.

Presently, Kale stood up and said to the other two, 'Here comes Nett.'

The many fighters that crowded the base all parted for Nett as he strode towards the three of them. It was plain to see his reputation proceeded him. He had changed into his armour which only served to complement his fearsome appearance.

Nett wore a perfect set of black armour. The armour was scratched in various places, but that was the only sign of damage. The set was not designed to have pauldrons or parts to cover the wearers calves for protection, but Nett made up for it with armour pieces that protected his uppers arms, calves, with gauntlets and grieves to cover every part of his body. If that wasn't enough, each of the pieces belonged to the same set.

Behind the Namek walked, or skipped would be more accurate, the final member of the Z Squad, Bobo.

Bobo was a Majin whose reputation was just as famous the the other members of the squad. Though simple of thought and speech, Bobo was a fierce fighter, and had a talent for blowing things up.

The Majin had pale salmon coloured skin. His eyes were small, black and very round. On the top of his head side by side sat two tentacles combed backwards.

He wore a white piece of armour that consisted of the chest piece alone with no undershirt. He wore grey loosely fitted pants that we wore tucked into a pair of bright red boots. Over his hands he wore a pair of mitten like gloves which were so heavily padded they resembled boxing gloves.

Bobo was the first Majin Kale had ever seen in person. He had heard rumours there was a second one in the ESF, but he had never seen them. Bobo had a carefree and innocent nature and he had quickly warmed to Kale during their first meeting when he had joined the Z Squad.

The Majin waved at the three of them as the approached, oblivious to the stares it drew from the people around it.

Kale grinned and waved back, and when Nett and Bobo stopped in front of the other three they greeted each other warmly.

Lan had only one thing on her mind.

'Well?' she asked Nett.

Nett strode past her towards the command tent and the rest of the group followed him.

'You wont have to wait long,' he told her, 'General Dykon is briefing us directly.'

Kale's earlier excitement began to return. General Dykon had been the commanding officer for the Earth's Special Forces for the last six years. He was regarded as one of, if not the most, powerful warriors on the planet. He also had a brilliant mind for strategy. Under his command the ESF had made some daring comebacks against the Intergalactic Army.

It was widely considered that the reason the IA had chosen to destroy West City, a target of little military significance, out of frustration at the success the guerrilla forces of the Earth's Special Forces had been having at taking enemy position and reclaiming lost territory.

This would be the first time that Kale would meet the General face to face, just another reason he was determined to do well on his first mission with the Z Squad.

'Nervous Kale?'

Kale looked around at Bobo, who was wearing the comical smile he always had on.

'Of course not,' he told the Majin with a smile, 'are you?'

Bobo laughed. 'Bobo is never scared. Bobo has been in danger many times, but Bobo always comes back. If you ever get scared just stick close, and Bobo will blow away the bad guys!'

Kale laughed at his friend's exuberance. Ahead of them Nett held the flap to the command tent open and called out to them, 'Come on, the General's waiting.'

… 

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE – AGE 1000

In the lush forest that surrounded his village Corro walked down a track that had been beaten into the earth by hundreds of footsteps before him. He was carrying a large bundle of kindling, and as he bent to retrieve another stick from the ground he stiffened, then smiled.

He added the stick to his bundle then started to walk back to the village as though nothing was amiss.

Waiting until the very last second Corro dropped the firewood and whirled around as a fierce shout came from behind him.

Jean shot towards Corro from one of the trees above him. He blocked her incoming kick and her shin slammed into his right forearm.

At the same time he reached his left hand around behind his back and grabbed Peppe's fist as he went for the back of Corro's head.

Twisting Corro grabbed Jean's leg with his right hand and swung both her and Peppe into Reed as he shot out of the brush to Corro's right.

The three children collided in mid-air and landed in a twisted mess.

'Owws' of various pitches came from the pile of children as they tried to untangle themselves and stand up. Corro laughed the whole time. The three of them trying to jump him when they thought he wasn't expecting it had become a regular occurrence.

Jean was the first up and began to dust herself off, a scowl on her face.

'Nice going Reed,' she said to the young Namek, 'if you hadn't got in the way I would have flipped over and come back at him.'

Reed jumped up off the ground, his fists clenched. 'Yeah right,' he said to Jean, 'there's no way you could have righted yourself while you were tangled up with Peppe.'

'It's not my fault,' Peppe said, still sitting on the ground shaking dirt out of his hair, 'Jean was the one who got in my way.'

Jean opened her mouth but before she could say something nasty Corro stepped between the three of them and said, 'Alright that's enough out of all of you.'

He smiled and bent down to grab Peppe's hand and help him up, then turned and pointed at the pile of sticks he had been carrying.

'Now, as punishment for losing you three can carry those back for me,' he said, then told them over their groans of protest, 'no, no I don't want to hear it. You three have been slacking off on your chores lately. You've spent too much time training and not enough time helping out.'

The three children grumbled and began to pick up the spilled kindling, then all four of them walked back to the village.

'What gave us away?' Peppe asked Corro on the way back.

'Jean,' Corro answered automatically.

Reed groaned. 'I tried to tell her,' he whined, 'she never suppresses her power.'

'Reed's right Jean,' Corro told her, 'you'll never catch me unprepared if I can sense you a mile away.'

Jean only snorted and said confidently, 'What's he point of hiding my power? I'm not afraid to show it off. Let my enemies feel it and shake in fear.'

'But Jean,' Corro said shaking his head, 'you'll never surprise someone if they feel you coming.

Jean stuck her nose in the air and said, 'I'm not one for sneak attacks anyway. I'd rather blast them head on.'

Corro just shook his head and smiled. As they came to the end of the path the trees on either side parted and gave way to the Namekian Village. Corro told the three children to store the firewood inside and then come straight back for their next chore.

As they shuffled inside he turned away and rubbed his forearm where he had blocked Jean's kick. A large purple bruise was already forming, and his whole arm was still numb from the blow.

 _I can't believe how strong she's gotten. I had no idea she was going to put me through this._

As Corro stood there, his mind thought back to a night over three years ago when he had agreed to train Jean in martial arts.

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE – AGE 997

The moon had risen high into the night sky when Jean opened her eyes and threw off the bed covers.

Silently she get up and dressed in the clothes the Namek elders had made for her. She pulled on a pair of loose white pants and tied a piece of white material around her chest. Over the top of this she pulled a pale blue dress that was designed to leave the right side of her body bare. Around her middle she tied a white sash to keep her dress in place, and on her feet she wore a pair of traditional Namekian shoes.

In a bed next to her own Peppe slept on interrupted. Jean cast a quick glance at him, a mixed feeling of both relief that he hadn't woken, and guilt that she wasn't taking him with her. In the past three weeks since she Kale had left Peppe had done nothing but cry.

Jean was done crying. She'd cried for her parents. She'd cried for her home. She'd cried for her brother. It had done nothing to bring them back. All the Nameks treated her like she was made of glass. She tired of sitting around feeling sorry for herself. It was time for action.

The house was dark and everyone was asleep when Jean quietly crept into the living room. Moonlight streamed in through the windows into the house casting an eerie light on the interior of the house.

As quickly as possible without making any sound Jean grabbed a leather satchel and began to fill it with the fruit that was sitting on the kitchen bench. When the bag was full she took an empty clay jar from a shelf and crept out of the house into the night.

Silent as a shadow Jean moved past the houses to the stream that through the village. She bent to fill the jar with water, and as she knelt there a voice spoke in the dark behind her.

'Going somewhere Jean?'

Jean dropped the jar in fright and it landed in the stream with a loud splash. She whirled around and standing before her was Corro. He stood there with his arms behind his back, still fully dressed and wide awake.

'It seems like I caught you just before you were about to leave,' he said casually, 'would you mind telling me where you're going?'

Jean didn't respond. _Home_ caught in her mouth so instead she said, 'Away.' 

Corro nodded and stood there silently.

When he didn't say anything else Jean asked, 'Aren't you going to stop me from going?'

Corro shrugged. 'I could stop you from going,' he said, 'but I'd rather that you chose to stay instead.'

Jean had expected him to be angry or to admonish her, but not for him to say that.

'I don't get it,' she told him, 'aren't you mad I tried to run away.'

The Namek took a step forward towards her. From the light of the moon she could that he had a sad expression on his face.

'I can't stop you from leaving Jean. But your brother asked me to look after you. And the best way for me to do that is for you to stay here, where it's safe.'

'Kale-' Jean stopped speaking suddenly choked up. She couldn't speak about her brother. If she started to think about him than she wouldn't be able to control her emotions.

Corro took another step towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. 'Jean,' he said gently, 'I wont try to understand what you've been through.'

Jean looked away from him and squared her jaw, trying to keep from crying.

Corro must have noticed her emotion because it was a full minute before he spoke again.

'I know you're angry,' he began but Jean cut him off.

'It's not anger. I...' She trailed off, unable to find the words to describe how she felt.

 _Tch. Damn it. Don't cry now._

She put her her forearm over her eyes, trying to hold the tears back. When they began to fall Jean knew that she had lost. Corro sensed the change. He put his arm around her shoulder and gently led her back to bed.

Once back in her bed Jean let her emotion out. Her body racked with silent sobs as she cried into her pillow. She couldn't explain to Corro how she felt. It was anger. It was anger over her home being destroyed. Anger over her parents deaths. Anger over Kale abandoning her and leaving her in this place alone with her grief.

Most of all it was anger at herself and how helpless she was. She hated being stuck being stuck in the village. Corro didn't have to stop her because she simply had no where to go. And she hated how Kale thought he had to be strong for her.

Jean clenched her teeth and gripped her pillow tightly.

 _Why can't I be strong? I want to be strong so Kale has to depend on ME._

…

Jean avoided speaking to Corro the next day. She only saw him briefly and it seemed that Corro had figured out that she wanted to be left alone.

The next night Jean had already been sound asleep for several hours when suddenly she awoke. A new and strange sensation had woken her up. It felt like an itch she needed to scratch, except it was coming from inside her head.

Jean sat up and groaned. She rubbed her temples but the feeling wasn't an ache like a headache. She sat still and closed her eyes, trying to clear her head. Her chest moved up and down as her breathing regulated.

The buzzing in her mind began to focus at the front of her head. Frowning, Jean turned her head to the right. The feeling moved to the left side of her head. She turned the other way to face her left and it moved to the other side of her head, as if it was pointing in that direction.

 _What the heck is going on? Not another bad night's sleep. What does this mean?_

Jean had heard that one of the skills the members of the Earth's Special Forces were taught was to sense the spirits of others, but she had never contemplated learning such a technique, let alone experienced it herself.

Suddenly wide awake and full of excitement Jean quickly dressed and headed outside.

The village was silent and deserted as Jean passed by the houses. She followed the feeling right to the edge of the forest where she stopped. Little moonlight filtered down between the branches of the dark tress, and the path ahead was almost pitch black.

Jean took a deep breath to steel herself and plunged into the undergrowth, following the sensation like a compass. On and on it led her. She had only been in the forest around the village several times and never this far in.

Just as she was about to give up and go back to bed no matter what she felt, Jean caught sight of a faint light shining through the trees ahead. As her pace quickened the feeling got stronger and began to solidify into a presence.

She pushed aside a leafy branch and as she did the source of the light and the power came into her view.

Jean had come to a circular clearing of trees. The ground had been beaten flat and the trees that surrounded the clearing were cast in an eerie bluish white light.

Floating in mid-air with his legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees was Corro. His eyes were closed and his brow was furrowed in concentration. His shirt was lying on the ground next to him, his bare chest was beaded with sweat. The light was emanating from him.

As Jean watched the Namek, the air around him began to hum, and small rocks began to rise off the ground to hover in the air. The trees around the edge of the clearing bent inwards towards Corro, and tiny sparks of electricity ran across his skin and off his body to fizzle out on the ground below.

The pitch of the air reverberations suddenly changed. Corro flung his arms out on either side and splayed his fingers wide. The trees on either side where his hands gestured out to exploded as if they had been hit by a sudden force, yet there had been no sign of an attack from Corro.

From his sitting position on mid-air Corro flipped over backwards and landed with his feet on the ground. He clenched his fists and the splintered trunk of a tree from either side rose into the air. With a yell he swept his arms through the air bringing them together on front of him and as he did the two tree trunks shot forward and both collided with a larger tree in front of Corro, exploding in a mass on splinters.

Jean covered her eyes and ducked behind the tree next to her as shards of wood hit the trunk and fell to the ground. She chanced another look and saw the splinters that would have hit Corro ignite just before they reached him and slowly fall to the ground.

Corro was breathing heavily. His chest heaved up and down and sweat shone on his forehead. As Jean watched he said something to himself, then sat with his legs folded beneath him and began to slowly regulate his breathing.

Jean slunk behind the tree again. As she stood there in the quiet of the night she realised the pressure on her mind had all but vanished. Only a minute portion remained, like a ripple in her mind that still pointed to the clearing behind her.

As quietly as she could Jean headed back to the village and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow of her bed.

…

The next morning Jean waited until she could get Corro alone before speaking to him. When he went to collect water from the stream she had her chance.

Approaching him silently from behind Jean said, 'I saw you last night.'

It was Corro's turn to be startled by somebody from behind at the stream. He jumped and dropped the bucket he was filling with a heavy splash.

He turned and saw Jean standing there. 'Jean, you startled me,' he began awkwardly, 'sorry, what was it you just said.'

Jean waved her hand dismissively. 'Spare me Corro, I saw you in the forest last night training.'

Corro frowned. 'I...what?' he spluttered. 'You saw me?'

Jean stepped forward and looked up into his face smiling slightly.

'What's this about? And how did you find me?' Corro asked her.

'This isn't about blackmail,' she told him, 'you have something I want, so I think we can come to an agreement.'

Corro crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. 'Oh?' he asked, 'What is it you want?'

'You're strong,' Jean said, 'I've seen your power. And I saw how you killed those two soldiers as if it were as easy as throwing a stone when we escaped the city.'

She paused and Corro said, 'I'm not sure I like where this is conversation is headed, but keep going.'

'I want you to teach me,' Jean told him, 'teach me to fight and to control my energy.'

Jean's teeth flashed white as her smile widened. 'Do this for me, and I promise I'll stay. I'll stay and I wont try to leave.'

Corro was silent for a minute and Jean could tell he was thinking it over. After a minute he asked her quietly, 'Why do you want this Jean?'

Jean's face grew hot and she could feel tears beginning to form. They weren't tears of sadness though, and she didn't let them fall.

'I want to get stronger,' she told Corro, 'I want to be strong enough to fight.'

She took a deep breath before saying, 'Kale's going to get stronger. He thinks he needs to be strong to protect me, but he's wrong.'

Speaking of her brother was almost enough to let her tears fall, but Jean squared her jaw and was able to keep talking.

'I want to be stronger than Kale. He's not strong now but he will be soon. My family wasn't strong and now they're dead. The people of West City were weak, and the soldiers were fools to think it was safe. None of them were strong enough.'

Jean clenched her hands into fists so hard that her nails bit into her hands and drew blood.

'I want to be strong enough to protect everybody,' she told Corro, holding up her hand before him so he could see, 'I want to be strong enough to protect my family, my home, and those who I care about. But most of all I want to fight those that would seek to harm us. I want them see fall beneath me, and see how foolish they were to challenge me as the lights leave their eyes.'

She let her hands fall to the side and ducked her head, staring at Corro's shoes.

'I want to be the strongest,' she finished quietly.

Corro didn't answer at first. Jean had expected him to refuse, or to be angry and tell her not to say such things.

When he didn't speak Jean looked up at his face, but his expression was indiscernible. She couldn't tell if he was angry, upset or sad. He seemed to be merely studying her.

'Say something,' she said to him.

Corro breathed deeply in and out through his nose before asking, 'How was it you found me last night?'

'I...I don't know,' Jean stammered, suddenly taken aback. Of all the things she had expected Corro to say, this hadn't been one of them. 'I can't explain how, but it's like I could feel where you were in my mind and just followed it.'

'Has this happened before?' Corro asked.

Jean shook her head. 'Last night was the first time. I didn't know it was you I was feeling until I saw you. I didn't even know what it was I could sense, just that I had this sensation that was telling me where something was.'

'Interesting,' Corro stated, and for the first time Jean had confronted him he smiled.

'What you're describing is the ability to sense another person's Ki, or power,' he told her, 'It's fascinating that it would manifest in somebody as young as you, especially without training.'

Frowning, Jean said, 'I don't understand, does this mean you'll train me?'

'This doesn't impact whether or not I'll train you Jean, it just makes our work easier to start with.'

Jean's heart leapt. 'So you mean you'll teach me to fight?'

Corro nodded. 'Yes it does. But before you get worked up-' he said as Jean gave a cheer and punched the air '-we will be doing this my way, and you do exactly what I say, however I say it.'

'Thank-you Corro!' Jean said throwing her arms around his middle, 'I promise I'll follow your instructions to the letter!'

Corro seemed taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled and put his hand on top of her head and told her, 'I'll hold you to that.'

They stood like that for a moment before a voice behind Jean said loudly, 'I want to be strong too!'

Corro and Jean broke apart and she spun around and saw Peppe standing behind her.

His whole face was screwed up, his mouth set in a hard upturned smile and he had his hands by his sides, fingers tightly clenched.

Before they could say anything he said again, 'I wont to be strong too!'

It was the most Jean had ever heard him say, and it was the first time she had seen him with tears streaming down his face.

'Peppe, I-' Corro began, but the boy interrupted him.

'I want to learn to fight, and I want to be strong so I can hurt the ones that hurt Mama!'

He stopped speaking and became suddenly shy. His eyes cast down at the ground in front of him and his voice dropped to just above a whisper.

'C-can you teach me?'

Corro strode past Jean and knelt down in front of the boy. Peppe raised his eyes to meet the tall Nameks gaze. To Jean, he seemed very shy of Corro. She didn't blame him. He had come from West City, and given his age he probably had never met one.

 _It must be terribly confusing for him to suddenly be surrounded by them._

Jean felt suddenly guilty that she had barely spared a thought about what Peppe must be going through.

'Are you sure about this Peppe?' Corro asked him. 'This wont be easy. You'll be knocked down again and again, but you'll have to keep on getting up no matter how much it hurts.'

Peppe nodded. 'I can do it,' he mumbled, 'I...I know it wont bring Mama back, but Jean is right. We have to be strong.'

Corro smiled. 'That's right,' he said quietly, then stood up.

'What do you think Reed?' he called out.

It was only just now that Jean noticed the young Namek leaning against the wall of a nearby house. When Corro called out to him a wide smile broke out across his face and he launched himself forward off the wall coming to a stop floating in the air above Corro and Peppe.

'So we're finally doing this?' he asked Corro eagerly.

'Looks that way,' Corro replied.

Reed's smile broadened. 'Cool!' he exclaimed. He turned to Jean and said 'I wanted to train you anyway, but Corro said not to say anything. He said that if you wanted us to teach you then you'd ask.'

Reed began to circle in the air above Jean. She tried to keep her eyes on him but had to stop when her head started to spin.

'This is so cool,' Reed continued, 'we'll make you super strong! Don't worry though, we'll be sure to go easy on you.'

Reed landed in front of Jean and crossed his arms. 'If you put in a lot of hard work you might be able to become half as strong as me.'

'Enough Reed,' Corro told him. He put his hands on his brothers shoulders and said to him, 'You'll be working hard too. You still have a long way to go.'

For the first time since Jean had come to the Namekian Village, she felt like she really belonged.

 _Just you wait and see Kale. The next time I see you I'll be the stronger one, and then you'll have to be the one asking me for help!_

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE – AGE 1000 

Corro was jolted out of his musing on the past as the three children ran back out of the house, talking loudly as they came.

They shot past Corro and the three leapt into the sky. Peppe and Reed went for Jean, but she blocked both of their attacks and countered with her own.

'Alright that's enough you three,' Corro called out to them, 'Come down from there.'

When they didn't respond Corro sighed and reached out for Peppe and Reed, his arms extending to grab around their ankles to pull them back down to Earth.

Jean landed behind them as Corro's arms retracted. 'Not just yet,' he told them, 'you still have your chores you need to finish before you can slack off and train.'

Ignoring their groans of protest he continued, 'I don't to hear any complaining out of you.'

He put his hands on his hips and added, 'If you hurry it up and there's time before dinner maybe then we can see how strong you've gotten, so get moving!'

As the three children ran off to their respective duties, Corro smiled to himself and rubbed his forearm again.

 _I can already see for myself how much stronger they've all gotten. Especially Jean. I'll have to watch out because pretty soon she'll be as strong as me!_

…

EARTH'S SPECIAL FORCES HQ

The commanding officers command tent acted both as a centre for action and planning for it's army, as well as the living quarters for the senior officers. The entrance to the tent led into a large room which was dominated by an enormous circular interface. The computer was waist high and the top was a flat screen that showed a map of various parts of the planet. It could also project a three dimensional image of the Earth and highlight which areas remained under Intergalactic Army's control, and which the ESF had secured.

The tent was double storied and even had working plumbing in the officers quarters.

Standing bent over the map of the planet was the leader of the Earth's Special Forces; General Dykon.

The General was a tall man who'd passed fifty, yet was still in prime physical condition. He wore a plain white singlet which showed off the size of the muscles of his arms and the definition of the muscles on his body.

He wore heavy black boots and a pair of dark green cargo pants. His arms, neck and face were covered in crisscrossed scars from a lifetime of battles, which only served to add to his intimidating aura of authority. His sandy hair was worn in a crew cut, and he sported a moustache goatee combination, cropped short.

As the Z Squad entered and gathered around the electronic table the General gave no indication he had noticed them, his attention fixed on the map. He pressed a button and the screen wiped clear then a flow of pixels came together to form an image of the planet floating above the table.

Most of the planet's surface was coloured red. This represented the estimated area of the Intergalactic Army's influence. Less of the planet was coloured in blue, to represent areas held by the Earth's Special Forces. Chief among these areas were the three main cities; North City, East City and South City.

Kale noticed painfully that the area where West City had once stood was a discoloured grey patch, to indicate unoccupied land.

A flap in the wall on the tent behind General Dykon opened and through it entered the two officers who served as his seconds in command, Major Howl and Brigadier Lettis.

The Major was wolf-man with dark blue fur and wiry arms. His physical appearance was very misleading. Howl was an extremely strong and savage fighter. His chest and feet were bare, and his tail lashed from side to side as he observed the Z Squad.

Brigadier Lettis was a renowned veteran fighter. She had fought in many battles against the IA and had the scars to prove it. Years ago she had been captured and while she was held prisoner she had been tortured for information. Her left eye was white and unseeing, and ever since her prison had been liberated by ESF troops the hair on her head had not grown back. She had been rendered mute and spoke only with strange hand gestures. Only a young boy assigned as her aide understood what she meant and would act as her translator. Kale didn't see him anywhere today though.

Her attire was plain but for one thing. Over her shoulder Lettis wore a long, curved nodachi, sheathed in a scabbard of black lacquered wood. Like Lan, she too had graduated from the Kikoukenjutsu School of swordplay.

Over time those closest to her, such as Howl and the General, had learnt a bit of her sign language and could sometimes recognise what she was saying without the translator's aid.

Howl and Lettis stood behind Dykon on either side. Lettis looked at them all blankly, but Howl's lips curled back over his fangs as his small orange eyes swept across the room, glaring at the squad members one by one.

It was only when the two officers were standing behind him, did the General finally take his attention off the map.

He lifted his eyes from the projection and focused them on Nett for a few seconds before pressing another button causing the Earth to dissipate and instead show a birds-eye-view of the Earth's Special Forces headquarters and the surrounding area.

Nett and the rest of the squad stood to attention. Even Bobo was standing up straight.

'At ease and listen well soldiers,' Dykon told them. He spoke in a deep rumbling bass. He spoke with such authority that even the simplest of sentences was enough to demand the attention of anyone.

'General Dykin,' Nett said, 'The Z Squad is reporting for duty. The order was to assemble as soon as possible for a high priority mission.'

The General stood up straight behind the table and clasped his hands behind his back.

'Yes Nett. This mission may represent a turning point in the fight for the freedom of our planet'. Dykon paused briefly and his eyes quickly swept across the faces of those standing before him.

'I don't mean to sound pretentious,' he continued, 'but the next twenty four hours could tip the scales of victory in our favour, or throw them terribly onto the side of the enemy's.'

Dykon pressed a series of buttons on the table and the map zoomed out to show a large area of territory. Most of the table coloured red, but spots of blue were here and there.

'Being held in this patch here-' the General indicated with his finger to a small patch of red in one of the corners of the map '-is a complete set of Dragon Balls.'

Around the table the Z Squad stirred. Nett stood up straighter and Kinwa and Lan exchanged a glance. Bobo made an 'Oohhh' sound. Kale stood still, staring at the map and trying to look like he knew what a Dragon Ball was.

'I see your understand the seriousness of this mission,' Dykon went on.

'Yes Sir,' Nett said quietly.

The General leant over the table again. 'We received word that the last of the Balls had been obtained by the enemy around six hours ago. The information of their current location was discovered around two hours ago.'

Nett bent over the table as well to look at the small patch of red Dykon had indicated to.

'Such a small base though. Why would they risk holding them there?'

'Small,' Dykon replied, 'but highly defended. We believe they are being held in this location for either imminent use or off world transport. Which brings me to your orders for this mission. Obviously, retrieving the Dragon Balls is the prime objective.'

Dykon tapped the screen on the base where the Dragon Balls were being held and the screen zoomed into provided a detailed top down view of the base's layout.

'Your orders are as such: Under cover of darkness you are to infiltrate the enemy base undetected. Once inside you will need to enter this building here.'

Dykon pointed to a large square building in the centre of the base.

'This is where we believe the Balls are being held. Capture them and escape undetected if possible. If you are discovered after you have obtained the Dragon Balls-'

He broke off as Lettis made a gesture where she swept her right hand over her left and out in front of her, then pointed the first two fingers on her right hand into the palm of her left, then formed a fist with her right hand and punched it into the palm of her left, curling her fingers around it.

'-One member of the squad must escape and return to HQ with them while the others stay behind to draw the soldiers attention from the retreating squad member,' Dykon concluded.

The General raised his eyes from the board to look at all of the members of the Z Squad.

'I know this may sound very simple to you,' he told them, 'but rest assured this will not be easy. We know that this base is under the command of Captain Ivy, and we have reason to believe that Commander Cackas may be present as well.'

Despite trying to look confident, Kale shivered. Commander Cackas was the man who led the Intergalactic Army's siege on the planet. A man whose reputation was as storied as Dykon's. He was known to be intelligent, ruthless and extremely strong.

Given his position, he was rarely seen on the battlefield as he directed his troops from the centre of IA held territory. When he did enter a fight, victory always went to the Intergalactic Army's forces, leaving few Special Forces troops alive.

Nett stood straight with his shoulders back. 'We'll get it done Sir,' he said, 'When do we set out?'

'Immediately,' Dykon replied, 'we can't risk you being detected while travelling there so you'll be driven out there and then proceed on foot. If you're compromised before you reach the location, or before the Dragon Balls are retrieved the enemy could take steps to move them off world and by then it will be too late.'

The room was silent for a moment so Kale took the opportunity to ask, 'Sorry sir, but what exactly is a Dragon Ball?'

Kale's face burned and turned a brilliant shade of red. He stared straight ahead at a blank part of the wall as all the eyes in the room turned to look at him. Howl curled his lip again and a low growl sounded in his throat.

'Welcome to your first mission Kale,' Dykon said.

Kale looked at him and relaxed slightly.

'They're magic boy,' Howl said. His voice was low and guttural, as if he chewed on each word before spitting it out.

'If you bring all seven of them together a dragon appears and grants you any wish, if you believe such nonsense,' he added.

'They are real,' Dykon said, somewhat exasperated, 'and what Howl says about their power is true. So you can see Kale, why the Earth's Special Forces would want to keep such objects from falling into the hands of the enemy, and why we would want that kind of power to change the rules of battle in our favour.'

Kale turned towards Nett as he spoke.

'For the last twenty years since the war broke out the ESF has been searching for them,' he said, 'finding them is no easy task.'

'We managed to find five of them over the course of fifteen years,' Dykon said picking up the conversation, 'however we suffered a major setback five years ago when the stronghold the five we'd obtained were being stored was sacked and the Balls stolen.'

Howl stepped forward and put his hands on the table, his claws curling around the edge. 'About two years ago we received intel that the IA had found a sixth Dragon Ball. This wasn't a concern, as without all seven they're nothing but a fancy paper weight. Now it seems that the enemy has found the last.'

Dykon came around the table and stood in front by the entrance flap to the tent and looked out at the soldiers going past.

'If we pull this off, we may have our first real chance,' he told them, 'we could wish for anything, our troops to be immortal, all of the IA soldiers to drop dead. Anything.'

He turned back to face the Z Squad. 'If we fail, then before we can blink the Dragon Balls will be off the planet and on their way to the hands of Rose, and any chance of victory will be gone.'

Rose was the being the Intergalactic Army claimed to serve. The only information the Earth's Special Forces had on him had been obtained at first contact with the Intergalactic Army. They had claimed that he was a being of immeasurable power, and that to defy him was like spitting at a god.

Dykon looked at Kale and smiled slightly seeing the young warrior shifting uncomfortably. 'Don't worry,' he told Kale, 'You just make sure that you get the Dragon Balls back here. We'll take care of the rest.'

'Scared Kale?' Howl asked him.

Kale squared his shoulders and looked the wolf-man straight in the eye. 'No sir, only eager to get out there.'

Howl smirked but by his side Lettis gave Kale a half smile.

'Don't screw up boy,' Howl growled at him, 'This is your first real mission and it's going to be hell. It's a joke that we're sending someone as green and untrained as you, but Dykon says the Z Squad can do it. Just make sure you don't bring them down.'

'That's enough Howl,' Dykon said walking back around the table to look at the map, 'Kale was named to the Z Squad because we believe that is where his potential lies.'

The wolf-man gave a short growl in response.

'You have your orders Z Squad,' Dykon told them, 'Head over to the vehicle depot now, your ride leaves in ten.'

He saluted them and the Z Squad returned the salute before exiting the tent.

Kale was the last to leave but before he stepped outside Dykon called out to him.

'And Kale...'

Kale turned to look back, one foot already outside.

'...make sure you don't stuff up.'

Kale smiled wryly. 'I don't plan on it sir.'

He stepped out of the tent and followed the rest of the squad jogging to catch up with them.

They were already talking about the mission ahead.

'I don't know what they're thinking wasting their wish like that,' Lan was saying.

'What do you think they should wish for?' Kale asked catching up to walk beside her.

'Well what's the point of wishing a bunch of dead guys back to life,' she told him, 'If they were killed in the first place they can't have been very strong.'

'There have been warriors stronger than us in the past twenty years,' Nett said ahead of them, 'Warriors even stronger than Dykon and the others. It doesn't matter though, the dragon can only restore those who have died in the past year to life. That doesn't help us much.'

'How do you know that?' Kinwa asked him, but Nett didn't answer.

'Immortality's useless as well,' Lan went on, 'Even if you made it so your strongest warriors couldn't die, I bet there's warriors who are ten times stronger than us in the Intergalactic Army. So then immortality doesn't do you much good if you can't touch your enemy. Plus even if you can't die you can still have your head cut off, and who wants to be a talking head stuck in the same spot for the rest of time.'

Kale bit his bottom lip as he thought over what Lan had said.

'You have a point,' he told her.

Lan folded her fingers together and rested her hands behind her head as they walked on.

'Now,' she began, 'You know what I'd wish for?'

On Lan's other side Kinwa rolled her eyes and said, 'I knew this was coming.'

Land ignored her and continued. 'I would wish for a group of Saiyan warriors to come to our aid.'

Her voice rose as Kinwa gave a derisive snort. 'Scoff all you want Kinwa, the Saiyans who once lived on this planet were ledgendary warriors. With a group of them, even a dozen, we would have all the man power we needed to push the IA back. They were a fierce warrior race, one of the most powerful in the universe.'

'So tell me then Lan,' Kinwa asked her, 'If they were as tough as you say they were, why aren't they around now.'

Lan looked at Kinwa with daggers in her eyes before answering. 'Their homeworld was destroyed by an even powerful warrior and their species was pushed to the brink of extinction. Only a handful survived and their descendants live on in the blood lines of a few Humans today.'

'The short answer being they all died,' Kinwa said looking around Lan at Kale.

'Mark my words Kinwa,' Lan told her, 'If we had just a few Saiyans on our side it would change everything.'

She turned to look at Kinwa, put a hand on her head and bent down to look in her face with her eyes narrowed.

'It may also interest you,' she said in an annoyed tone, 'That the warrior who destroyed planet Vegeta was in turn killed by a Saiyan.'

Lan straightened up an spun on her heel and marched quickly after Nett leaving Kinwa and Kale behind.

Kinwa stood with her arms crossed, looking somewhere between annoyed and admonished.

'They're still all dead!' she called after Lan, who ignored her.

Kinwa turned to Kale and laughed when she saw the look of apprehension on his face.

'Don't worry about it,' she told him, waving her hand dismissively and walking after the rest of the group, 'I only tease her because I love her. She knows that.'

Kale looked around at Bobo who had been walking behind them. The Majin had a confused look on his face.

'What do you make of all this?' Kale asked him.

Bobo only shrugged.

Kale smiled and said to him, 'Come on, lets get a move on before Nett sees we're lagging.'

Before the squad climbed into the truck that would take them close to the enemy base Nett handed Lan and Kinwa a scouter each to use on the mission.

'We're going to be on this truck for many hours, so I don't want to hear any bickering out of you two,' he told the two women.

Lan only shrugged and Kinwa looked prim.

Frowning, Nett said, 'I mean it. I don't want to hear anymore about Saiyans,' he said pointing to Lan, 'And I don't want you to be giving Lan a hard time because of her crazy family tree,' he added turning towards Kinwa.

Nett looked at Kale before climbing aboard the truck. Seeing that Kale was grinning broadly, he gave him a small smile in return.

'Need a hand getting up there?' Lan asked Kinwa.

'Shut up,' Kinwa replied as she climbed up and took a seat.

Kale took a seat next to Nett as the truck began to pull out of the yard.

'Howl is right you know,' he said to the Namek, 'I am green and untrained.'

Nett looked at him and seemed taken aback that Kale would be so humble.

'Try not to worry about it,' he told Kale, 'Everybody is green on their first mission. You've got to start somewhere.'

'I guess,' Kale replied, 'still, I've only been through the basic military training. All of you have had formal martial arts training.'

Nett fell silent and mused on what Kale had said while the truck pulled to a stop while it waited for the front gate of the base to be opened.

'Try not to think about it too much,' he said as the truck began to move again, 'That can't be helped. We were all taught before we joined the military.'

Across from Kale Lan said to him, 'Don't worry about it Kale. It's obvious you've got potential, otherwise they wouldn't have put you with us. Once we get back, we'll find you a real martial arts trainer. Give it a few months, and you'll be kicking arse and taking names like a pro.'

Kale smiled at her and Lan added, 'You know who would be a really good trainer? A really good trainer that everybody could learn a lot from?'

Next to her, Kinwa put a hand over her eyes and said, 'Don't say it Lan.'

Lan put her hands out and shrugged casually. 'I'm just sayin'.'

A vein twitched in Nett's forehead. 'ENOUGH!' he roared, and the rest of the Z Squad began to laugh as the truck bounced along the road to their destination.

…

SEVERAL KILOMETERS SOUTH-EAST OF THE Z SQUAD'S TARGET

The sun was setting as the Z Squad disembarked from the truck. As it turned around and drove off in a cloud of dust they hurried to take cover in the thick forest that bordered either side of the road.

As the moon rose over their heads the Z Squad moved slowly on foot towards the base where the Dragon Balls were being held.

It was essential that secrecy was maintained so they had to avoid flying and keep their power levels pushed down. Each of them kept their scouters on high alert and their senses ready to detect the presence of an enemy scout.

Several times the squad had to take cover and wait hidden while an enemy patrol passed overhead.

After over an hour of slow going through thick bush land Nett signalled for the squad to stop and bunch up.

He put one hand inside his armour and drew out a small piece of paper.

'Alright, the base is just over the next rise. We know that from the angle we're approaching from there will be a small blind spot that will allow us to quickly scale the wall undetected. From there we move on the building where the Dragon Balls are being kept.'

He passed the piece of paper to Lan and told her, 'Read this quickly and memorise it,' then he turned to Kale.

'Once we've secured the Dragon Balls I want you to be the one to take them back to HQ.'

Kale's eyes widened. 'You want me to be the one holding onto them?' he asked Nett.

Nett nodded as Lan passed the paper to Kinwa.

'That's right,' he said to Kale, 'Getting out will be a lot harder than getting in. If we're jumped I want you to get out of there as fast as you can while we keep the soldiers attention focused. Hopefully they'll think it's a botched surprise attack and they wont notice you.'

Kale took the piece of paper from Bobo and said, 'That's putting you four in a really dangerous position.'

'Are you doubting us Kale?' Lan asked him.

'Have a bit more faith in us, we're professionals,' Kinwa added.

Nett smiled. 'No offence Kale, but all of us have a lot more experience than you. We can handle whatever they throw at us. Just make sure you get away from the base as fast as you can. Then you'll have to drop down into the forest and keep going on foot otherwise the sentries will sense you leaving.'

Kale nodded and looked down at the paper and began to memorise what was written.

'Keep heading south-east for several clicks,' Nett continued, 'Don't worry, somebody will know you're coming and pick you up.'

Handing the piece of paper back to Nett Kale asked him, 'And what about you guys?'

Taking it back, Nett put his index finger to the paper and ignited it. By the light of the brief flickering flame Kale could see his brow was furrowed and his face set, but he still had that smile.

'We'll find our own way,' he replied, leaving the paper to curl to black ash and fall to the ground.

The group continued slowly and silently onward over the last part of the journey to reach the base. All of them moved with expert stealth and guile. Kale was surprised that even Bobo moved quietly, despite his immense bulk.

As the squad crested the hill the enemy camp came into view. It had four high metal walls and at each corner sat a watch tower which spread spotlights over the base and the surrounding area.

Nett had been right about their location. They had come at the base from the side and in the middle of the wall there was a small patch of darkness where the spotlights didn't reach.

'There,' Nett breathed, pointing to the place, 'That's where we go over. Large outposts like this rely more on detecting power levels than posting sentries.'

'We'll all have to go over at the same time,' Lan said, 'That'll minimise the risk of their scouters picking us up.'

Nett got up onto one knee and the others followed suit. 'That's right, keep to the area between the two spotlights, when we reach the wall we all go straight over together. Once we land on the other side move to cover immediately. We clear?'

The others all nodded.

'Then lets go!'

The Z Squad burst out from the tree line and sprinted towards the wall of the camp. Kale's heart was racing as he ran towards the fence. He kept his eyes on the back of Lan's head in front of him, trying to focus on her movements rather then get caught up with what was ahead.

The group moved in single file as they passed between the two spotlights. In amazed Kale how they all moved in unison, already knowing what to do and where to move without Nett telling them. This is what it meant to be one of the elites.

Nett, Kinwa and Lan had reached the wall. As Kale passed between the lights he looked back at Bobo who had sucked in his weight and stretched his body taller to distribute it evenly to be able to pass through undetected.

Kale would've laughed if he had the time. As soon as Bobo joined them at the wall, the squad jumped up and over without a word. Kale was only half a second behind them, trying to feel for the same instincts that the rest of the group had.

As the five of them came over the top they had a brief view of the layout of the base before they landed behind the warehouse in front of them. Inside the grounds were very well lit, and Intergalactic Army soldiers patrolled in groups of two.

Kale landed softly then quickly dived behind a large crate in front of him. The rest of the squad stood still in hiding waiting on tenterhooks for the a sign their entrance had been detected or not.

There was no sound of an alarm or troops moving towards where the group hid, and after a few moments the group followed Nett as he led them through the few shadows the buildings cast around them to the centre of the base.

Guards patrolled the base in groups of two and once the Z Squad had to flatten themselves against a wall and wait in the shadow for the soldiers to walk past.

Nett demonstrated his skill as a soldier by getting the group towards the centre building without being discovered. The squad waited in the dark while Nett checked the entrance to the building where the Dragon Balls were being held.

He ducked his head back around and told the other four, 'There's two guards standing in front of the door. Looks like the door has a hand print lock.'

Kale heard this from behind Bobo's back as he was waiting behind the Majin and was unable to see around him.

'Lan and I duck out when it's clear,' Nett went on, 'We grab the guards, I'll force mine to put his hand on the plate to unlock the door, then we all go in and stash the unconscious two somewhere discreet.'

'And what if they don't have clearance to open the door and those two are just guarding it?' Lan asked him.

Nett paused before answering. 'Then we blast the door open and make a break for the Dragon Balls. That's the worst case scenario.'

He turned around and Lan followed him to the edge of the building to check if any patrols were coming by.

When it was all clear the two of them moved around the corner quickly to subdue the two guards silently.

The remaining three waited with baited breath. Neither of the guards sounded the alarm. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of boots being scuffed against the ground. Kale looked around from Bobo's back and as he did Lan stuck her hand around the corner and beckoned them over.

Kale realised he had been holding his breath and let it out as his head began to ache. He followed Bobo as he and Kinwa came around the corner to the entrance on the building. Nett was standing inside the door with his foot in the doorway to stop it from closing and he was holding the two unconscious guards under his arms. He passed them both to Bobo to carry as the group ducked inside and the door closed behind them.

Leaving the two guards in a small storage room near the entrance, the squad moved quickly down the corridor keeping alert for anyone approaching. The corridor was brightly lit and the walls were metal painted white. The brightness of the interior made Kale's eyes smart until they adjusted.

Nett led the group through the building. Several times they came to other corridors that led in a different direction, but Nett seemed to know where he was going and the others followed without question.

Kinwa was moving in front of Kale. He tapped her on the shoulder and asked, 'How is it Nett knows the right way to go?'

'It's on his scouter,' Kinwa replied in a hissed whisper, 'the blueprints were sent to all of us. Didn't you check yours?'

Kale's face burned as he raised his hand to his scouter and checked for new messages. There were three new ones and his stomach plummeted as he checked the most recent one and saw it contained the schematics for the enemy base.

 _Crumbs, I really dropped the ball on that one._

The squad continued until they came to a large grey door at the end of a corridor. It had a plain design except for a symbol embossed at eye level that Kale didn't recognise.

'This is it,' Nett said quietly, 'This is Ivy's office.'

He didn't make any move to try the door.

'Why are there no guards? Where the heck is everybody?' Kinwa said looking around.

The door to Captain Ivy's office didn't have a hand print lock, just a regular handle. Nett put his hand on the handle and said to the others, 'It may be that there's no one here because there's nothing to guard. Otherwise Ivy might have left and taken his guards with him.'

'Only one way to find out,' Lan said, drawing her sword.

The Z Squad positioned themselves on either side of the door. Nett nodded to them, quickly twisted the handle and flung the door open.

They rushed in, weapons and fists raised and energy attacks at the ready.

The office was empty. It was plainly furnished, and like the rest of the building it had a white metal floor, ceiling and walls. A black desk sat at the other end of the room. The only chair was positioned behind the desk.

Behind the desk was hung a large portrait which served as the room's one decoration. It was an electronic display which showed an image of the leader of the Intergalactic Army, Rose. Every few seconds the picture would change to show different portraits of Rose painted by various artists.

Sitting on the desk itself was a standard sized black briefcase. Kale looked at Nett, his eyes widening in disbelief. The group quickly crossed the room and crowded around the desk.

'I wonder if it's possible for us to catch a break,' Nett muttered as he put his hands over the briefcase.

He swivelled it around to face. He glanced at the rest of the squad who held their breath as he tried the lock. It wasn't locked.

As Nett opened the case the three humans couldn't help letting out a 'Yes!' and punching the air.

Inside were all seven Dragon Balls. An orange light pulsated slowly and a strange humming could be heard in the air around them.

'There so pretty,' Kinwa said reaching for one.

Nett snapped the case shut. 'That's enough,' he told the squad, 'Don't forget where we are. First half of the mission is over, but this has been too easy. I have a feeling this it's going to get a lot harder from here on out.'

'Lighten up Nett,' Lan told him, sheathing her sword and wearing a wide smile, 'Lets just try and get out of here quietly so we can head back to base and make our wish.'

'My thoughts exactly,' Nett said, handing the case to Kale.

He looked at Kale hard before letting it go.

'You know what your job is. You know what's at stake.'

Kale nodded calmly. 'I wont let you down.'

Nett checked the corridor before they headed back outside.

Kale was feeling giddy. His stomach was doing somersaults and he couldn't stop smiling. Despite still being in the middle of enemy territory, the rest of the squad were having a similar reaction to their success. Only Nett stayed serious.

'It may be harder to get back out than it was getting in,' he told them, 'If we're detected as we go over the wall that's no so bad. If that's the case we can all go with Kale and escort him to the rendezvous point. Otherwise we stick to the plan and keep the soldiers attention here, while Kale escapes to-'

Nett broke off speaking as the squad rounded a corner. Coming towards them from the other end of a corridor were two Intergalactic Army soldiers. The one on the right was a short red skinned man, with a squashed in face and a pair of stubby black horns that protruded from his forehead. The other was tall and skinny, with a sickly grey pallor. Both were dressed in standard IA battle armour.

The Z Squad froze at the sight of them. The other two soldiers didn't notice them immediately. They kept walking down the corridor without breaking off their conversation.

'Those two are asking for it,' the short one said to the tall soldier, 'Leaving their post when they're supposed ta' be guarding this place. Ivy will have their heads if they don't show up real s-'

He broke off as he and his comrade caught sight of the Z Squad standing frozen at the other end of the corridor.

'Hey!' the short red soldier barked at them, 'What do you think you idiots are doing with those Dragon Balls! You know that Captain Ivy is the only one allowed to handle them!'

'Are you idiots trying to get yourselves killed?' his tall friend asked them, 'And what's with that weird get-up? You guys are gonna be court marshalled for walking around out of uniform.'

The short soldier scratched his chin and looked at them intensely. 'Come to think of it, I don't remember any Humans joining up, let alone Nameks and whatever that pink thing is.'

There was an almost audible 'clunk' as the soldiers minds slowly put two and two together, their faces turning blue.

'Intrude-' the short one began to yell but Nett lunged forward and his arms stretched out to grab the soldier's jaws and hold their mouths shut.

The Z Squad sprinted down the corridor towards them. The tall grey soldier was trying to pull Nett's hand off as his face turned red from lack of oxygen.

When he couldn't pull Nett's hand off him, the short soldier gathered a ball of yellow energy in his hand. Kinwa dived forward to try and suppress it, but the soldier fired it behind him. The blast shot down the corridor and exploded when it hit the wall.

Nett yanked both soldiers off their feet, slammed their heads together then threw them at the walls on either side of him. There a brief moment of silence then a wailing alarm began to sound.

'Run!' the Namek yelled at the group.

Kale's heart was pounding as he sprinted down the corridor. He kept the case containing the Dragon Balls close to his chest and as they burst outside Nett yelled, 'You all know your jobs, go Kale!'

The Namek swept his arm wide sending a wave of purple energy into the building opposite them. As the building exploded in an enormous fire ball Kale shot into the sky and flew as fast as he could out of the base.

Nett smiled briefly after him then spun around as Lan roared, 'Here they come!'

Soldiers were running towards them from every direction. Others flew out of the sky, making a bee line for the four troops. Nett, Kinwa, Lan and Bobo ran to meet them. The Majin gave a high pitched laugh, already firing enormous pink blasts from his hands.

The two forces crashed together in a blaze of fists and explosions.

Nett ducked under the punch of one soldier and slammed his palm into the soldiers stomach sending him flying backwards. He blocked another's kick, then flipped the attacker over and swung him by his leg into the path of another soldier sending them both down.

Lan moved with less finesse than her commander. Her fighting style was much less practical and brutal. She blocked one punch, then another as her attacker swung his left fist at her. She held his fists tightly in her own then pulled his arms out wide and slammed her forehead into his face. As the soldier crumpled beneath her she drew her sword and her fighting style changed.

She became much more graceful as she moved through the crowd, cutting those around her down. Two soldiers came at her with short swords in their hands. Lan blocked the attack of the first one, then swung her sword around over her back to block the second from behind. As the first came at her again she adjusted her stance before kicking his wrist. He dropped his sword with a short yell of pain as Lan spun around to face the second soldier. She arched her back backwards, her hair lightly touching the ground, as he swung his sword through the air above her, then swung her own in a wide circle and beheaded him.

A line of soldiers ran towards her, faces twisted in fury. Lan settled into her stance, then swung her sword in a wide arc, letting her energy flow through her into the sword's blade. An enormous wave of yellow energy shot out of her sword and it crashed into the soldiers bringing them down.

Being surrounded by angry soldiers, most of whom were bigger than her, did not deter Kinwa. She moved slowly with poise as if she were dancing. Two streams of blue energy flowed from her fingers as a vibrant aura shone around her. Her eyes glowed blue as she spun away from one soldier, then sent him flying with a blast to his back. First she pushed her arms out to the side, fingers splayed, and fired a wave of blue energy at the soldiers on either side of her.

Slowly and gracefully she moved first to blast the soldiers above, then behind her. Kinwa spun around to face the only soldiers left. She dropped any sense of grace and poise as she clapped her fingers together. Kinwa opened her hands, keeping her fingers and thumbs together to form a diamond.

She lined up the soldiers in front of her in her sights, as energy sparked and danced off her body, crackling in the air around her. Her face twisted in a savage grin, Kinwa roared, 'Tri-Beam, HA!'

A burst of energy shot from Kinwa's hands and consumed all of the soldiers in front of her.

Oblivious to the punches and kicks the soldiers around him landed, Bobo laughing that high pitched childish laugh. With both hands stretched in front of him Bobo launched continuous blasts which exploded around him, striking soldiers and igniting buildings.

One soldier grabbed the tentacles on Bobo's head from behind and attempted to pull his head back. A jolt of purple electricity shook through the soldier and he disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared all that remained of him was a block of dark chocolate.

Leaning forward Bobo snapped his tentacles forward and sent sent a stream of purple energy into the soldiers around him, turning them all in various shades of chocolate.

…

As Kale shot through the sky towards the rendezvous point the sounds of the two forces joining in battle could be heard behind him. He tightened his grip on the case containing the Dragon Balls, but did not look back.

 _They'll be fine. They're all much stronger than you. Don't worry, they'll be fine._

In his haste to escape the enemy base, Kale had forgotten the patrolling sentries. Too late, his scouter picked up the signature of the surrounding scouts' power levels.

Kale shot towards the treeline and hit the ground hard, running and jumping over fallen trees as the forest exploded around him. He kept running as splinters shot through the air and bounced off the back of his armour.

 _Damn it, I'm going to get killed down here!_

Another blast hit the ground behind Kale. The explosion pushed him forward and Kale used the momentum to shoot up and out of the forest into the sky. He flipped over and fired to energy blasts to cover his escape, then kept going, flying as hard and as fast as he could.

…

Nett's scouter beeped. He realised the power levels it had picked up in the distance must mean that Kale was caught escaping with the Dragon Balls. Nett grimaced, sent the soldier he was grappling with down with a hard punch to the jaw, then began to fire rapid blasts indiscriminately around him.

 _We have to keep their focus on us. If we can buy Kale a bit more time, he'll be able to get past the sentries!_

...

On the other side of the IA base, the door to one of the towers opened and out marched Captain Ivy. He was flanked by two guards, and wore a scowl on his face.

He was neither tall nor short, but he was very broad. His arms looked like a pair of giant pincers with his short, sharp fingers. Small horns stuck out of his bald head, and his skin was a dark shade of green.

Two small slits served as a nose and he inhaled deeply as he surveyed the battle before him. A veteran of many battles, he was not one who took everything off of his first impression. This made him a more cautious and calculating, and possibly better, leader than his superior Commander Cackas.

Almost one hundred of his troops were currently fighting the Z Squad, but he made no move to direct them or assist. Using his scouter he zoomed in on each of the Earth's Special Forces fighters, recognising them from their reputation and intelligence gathered against them.

The fighting was happening nearby the building that housed the Dragon Balls. The doors to the bunker were hanging off their hinges, and had clearly been blasted off from the inside. Ivy had known that in the short time the Dragon Balls were being held here there would be a high chance that the ESF would launch an attempt to steal them if they learnt of their location.

Ivy's eyes narrowed as he quickly scanned the battlefield with his scouter, noting that several kilometres away there were several other power levels proceeding away.

 _Something isn't right here..._

'Shall we go and join in with the fun Sir?' one of his guards asked, cracking his knuckles.

'No,' Ivy said slowly, stepping up and leaning over the railing as he realised just what was happening.

'IT'S A DIVERSION. LEAVE THOSE FOUR ALONE,' he roared to his troops, loud enough to be heard over the fighting.

Heads swivelled around as most of the troops broke off trying to get at the Z Squad. Nett felt a cold feeling settling in his stomach.

Ivy swung his arm wide and pointed in the direction Kale had fled.

'GET AFTER THAT POWER LEVEL, HE'S THE ONE WHO'S GETTING AWAY WITH THE DRAGON BALLS!'

Half of the troops below him rose into the air and sped off in the direction he had indicated.

Nett elbowed one soldier in the face, blocked the punch of another and followed up with one of his own, then called out to his squad, 'Kinwa, Lan, get after them! We can't let them catch Kale!'

The two fighters took off without a word in pursuit of the soldiers. Nett and Bobo stood back to back, as the remaining soldiers encircled them.

…

Kale ducked and spun through the air as the sky exploded around him. He looked back just as an enormous energy ball shot towards him. Kale thrust his hands out below him and he shot upwards, the blast missing him by a hair.

Before he could adjust his trajectory one of the enemy scouts appeared above him and slammed his fist into Kale's face sending him crashing towards the ground. Kale grimaced and squinted through the pain in his face. Another soldier had appeared below him, readying an attack.

Kale saw it coming and quickly fired an energy attack at the soldier. His head throbbing from where the other soldier had hit it, Kale flew through the smoke from his attack and quickly righted his trajectory back on course.

The shouts of the other sentries could be heard behind him. He still hadn't managed to shake them.

More blasts shook his body as the soldiers tried to bring him down. Sensing that they were all close behind, Kale readied a powerful attack then flipped over, catching the sentries by surprise in an enormous explosion.

Satisfied, Kale smirked and continued on. But as he flipped back over, his scouter beeped and there was a flash of light from within the smoke from his explosion. One of the soldiers had managed to escape and Kale reacted too late as the soldier's blast struck his back.

Right where hole in his armour was.

 _Damn that quartermaster._

Pain shot through Kale's body and the cold air stung the blasted area of his back. He cried out in pain, struggling to stay airborne, slowing down and tilting towards the ground.

There was a cry of rage behind him and the soldier who had fired the attack launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around Kale. He smacked his forehead into Kale's forehead and stars danced before Kale's eyes.

'You're mine Human!' Kale heard him say, as the soldier flew them both towards the ground.

Between the pain in his back and the two blows to the head, Kale's mind was struggling focus on stopping the soldier. The world was spinning around and around as the two of them plummeted towards the ground.

'Stop,' Kale said thickly, his tongue slow to form the words, 'you'll kill us both.'

The soldier didn't reply but began to laugh as the ground rushed up to meet them.

Unable to free his arms from the soldier's iron grip, Kale twisted his hand and managed to focus enough to fire a blast that grazed the soldiers side. The soldier grunted and his arms slackened enough for Kale to almost twist out as they crashed into the tree line.

There was a crash as the soldier hit a tree trunk hard, and his grip vanished. Kale's momentum was completely changed as his legs hit a thick branch. Spinning out of control he flew through the growth until another branch hit him square in the chest. Winded, Kale slowly slid off the branch and fell straight down landing spread eagle on the soft grassy ground.

Less then a second later the soldier who had attacked him landed several feet away with a sickening crunch. Kale slowly turned his spinning head to look at the soldier. He had hit his head on a rock when he had landed, and lay there unmoving with his arms and legs stuck out on odd angles, blood slowly trickling down the side of his face.

Kale struggled to his feet. He was trying to regulate his breathing and he was close to passing out. The wound on his back burned and he hissed with pain when he twisted his body, feeling blood flowing down his back.

In the quiet of the forest his scouter suddenly beeped loudly. Kale blinked and focused on the readings. His stomach twisted as he realised dozens of power levels were in pursuit of him, only minutes away.

Kale looked around and saw with relief that the Dragon Balls had landed nearby where he had fallen. The case was still intact and shut.

 _At last some luck._

Kale took a step towards the case but before he could set his foot down his other leg gave way and he slumped forward, landing on his face.

 _Damn, come on!_

Kale put one arm outwards and began to slowly drag himself towards the Dragon Balls. As he put his hand on the case his scouter beeped again, indicated that the approaching perusers were closing in.

 _There's no way I can fly in this condition, let alone fight. But I can't let the Dragon Balls fall into their hands again._

Kale looked around at the small clearing he lay in.

 _Maybe I could bury them. But then how would anyone know how to get hold of them? It would be better that no one could use them, than the IA getting hold of them._

As Kale's scouter beeped again, images of the Z Squad members, of his family, his sister and everybody he had known flashed in Kale's mind, and through the pain he felt over his body and his mind, Kale gritted his teeth and began to open the case containing the Dragon Balls.

 _No. Dykon was right. This is our chance. It's our time to fight back, to go on the offensive._

The Dragon Balls pulsed with an orange light as Kale laid them one by one on the the grass beside him.

 _This is Humanities time. Even if I'm caught and die here. I have to give the Earth the best chance to win._

Kale focused his mind back onto the words that Nett had him memorise.

 _It's up to me._

'ETERNAL DRAGON, BY YOUR NAME I SUMMON YOU; SHENRON!'

A blinding flash of yellow light lit the clearing and an enormous stream of energy erupted out of the seven Dragon Balls, climbing high into the sky.

The light in the sky began to slowly take shape, and began to curl around itself over and over again until it filled the black night sky. It began to solidify taking the shape of a great green dragon.

A short pair of legs and arms grew out of it's long body, and as it's heavy head took shape it let out a deafening roar, causing all the birds nesting nearby to take flight.

It lowered it's head to be almost level with Kale's eyes as he lay on the ground, twisting it's neck around the end of it's tail still inside the glowing balls.

Slowly, it's eyelids opened to reveal a pair of deep red eyes.

As it regarded Kale it said in a deep, rumbling voice that shook the trees around them and made Kale's throbbing head ache, 'You, who have summoned me, I will grant you any two wishes that are within my power.'

Kale froze, his mouth open.

 _What on Earth am I supposed to wish for? Nett never specified. And I have to make two wishes!_

After a short pause the dragon slightly raised it's eyebrows expectantly.

 _So what do I wish for? Immortality?_

In a brief moment of selfishness Kale considered asking the dragon to restore his parents to life.

 _Don't be stupid. Nett said it could only revive those who had died less than a year ago anyway._

A low growl sounded from within the dragon's maw.

'Well?' it asked, an impatient bite creeping into it's voice, 'Speak your first wish.'

Kale's scouter began beeping frantically and a feeling of panic began to creep over Kale as he could sense the power levels of the approaching soldiers.

 _Oh man, think Kale, think! Immortality? But for who? Lan said it was next to useless._

As Kale lay there struggling to think straight, he remembered what else Lan had said.

" _With a group of them, even a dozen, we would have all the man power we needed to push the IA back..."_

A wide grin slowly spread across Kale's face.

 _That's it!_

Pushing himself up onto one knee, Kale said loudly, 'I have my first wish Shenron. Long ago there lived a race of powerful warrior race on this planet known as the Saiyans. My wish is to bring as many Saiyans like them to this planet!'

Shenron didn't answer at first.

'This wish,' he began slowly 'cannot be granted.'

Kale looked aghast. Any sense of hope or confidence that had been briefly kindled a moment ago was snuffed out.

'B-b-but w-why?' he stammered. 'Why not?'

'Because none of the Saiyans you describe still live. It is true they once resided on this planet, but they have long since died. They interbred with Humans, and over the years their bloodlines have dwindled but there are Humans today with a drop of Saiyan blood that carry their heritage.'

 _Lan must be right then. Her ancestry is where her strength comes from. It's hard to believe that she's so strong, considering it must have been generations ago that one of her relatives was a full-blooded Saiyan. She's so powerful for someone with only a small part of Saiyan DNA._

It was at that moment that an idea came into Kale's mind. A crazy idea. One so mad that Kale almost laughed at himself.

 _She's only part blooded..._

Straining every muscle in his body Kale pulled himself to his feet.

'Alright dragon, I have my wish,' he shouted at Shenron, pointing his finger at the dragon's face. 'I wish for all of the descendants from the Saiyans of Earth, all who carry their bloodline, anyone who has even a drop of Saiyan blood, to be made a Saiyan in full. Change them in body and mind into the powerful warriors they are descended from!'

Shenron turned his head slightly, and growled again, except this time it sounded more thoughtful than hostile.

'That,' he began at length, 'is not an easy wish. It will take some time.'

Kale could have screamed.

'WHAT!' he said shrilly, spit flying from his mouth, 'I don't have any time!'

The dragon's eyes narrowed slightly.

'Wishes are granted in my time, or not at all.'

Kale glanced over his shoulder nervously, his scouter indicating the pursuing soldiers were less then a minute away.

'Then can I just give you my second wish now and get that out of the way first?' he asked.

'Very well,' Shenron replied, 'speak your second wish.'

The soldiers shouted as they caught sight of Kale at the centre of the source of the light, and shot towards him, already charging energy blasts in their hands.

Kale closed his eyes and said very fast, 'Please send me to the home of the home of the greatest martial arts tutor that ever lived!'

Shenron grunted. 'An easy wish. Granted.'

His eyes began to glow red, and Kale vanished in a small flash of white light.

The soldiers who had been pursuing him stopped dead in the air, staring at the spot where Kale had disappeared.

'But, where is he?' one asked dumbly.

'He must be somewhere,' another yelled, 'spread out and look for him!'

'Screw that!' a third one said. He flew up to Shenron's face and shouted, 'Hey dragon, make me immortal!'

'No,' the first one who had spoken said,pushing the third out of the way, 'make me immortal!'

Then all of the soldiers began to crowd around Shenron, pushing at each other, all yammering for immortality. Shenron, for his part, remained as still as a statue.

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

Before he even had opened his eyes, Kale knew the wish had worked. The sounds of the forest and the humming of energy emanating from Shenron had vanished. Instead there was only silence.

Kale opened his eyes. He was standing in a grassy field with a pale purple sky filled with yellow clouds above him. Kale had only a second to take all of this in when he was suddenly driven down to his hands and knees by a powerful force.

Struggling to keep himself from being driven to the ground, Kale's arms began to shake with the effort of merely keeping his body propped up.

 _Man! What is going on here? It's like there's some invisible force that's pushing me down. My body feels like it weighs a ton!_

Kale's arms and knees gave out and he landed flat on his stomach, his face in the grass and his arms and legs spread out.

 _Could it be that the gravity is stronger here? Is that why I feel so heavy?_

There was a sound to Kale's right and, with an incredible effort, he managed to turn his head around to see what it was.

Sitting on the grassy ground next to him was a plump monkey, with pointed ears and a simple face.

The monkey looked at Kale, and cocked it's head, staring at Kale.

'Umm,' was all Kale could say.

Letting out an excited hoot, the monkey began to bounce up and down on the spot.

Kale gaped in disbelief.

 _How come this little guy can move so freely, while I can barely turn my head?_

'Oh dear,' said a strange voice on Kale's other side, 'you seem to be having some trouble moving about.'

Straining his arms Kale managed to flip his body over onto his back, air hissed from between his teeth as his wound smarted. The person standing over him was by far the strangest thing he had seen here so far.

He was an odd looking, short man, with blue skin, dark sunglasses and black cap. Out of the cap grew two long antennae.

'Yo,' the strange man said when Kale didn't speak, 'can I help you?'

Kale coughed and tried to sit upright. 'I sure hope so,' he said, struggling with every word, 'you see I came here looking for the greatest teacher of the martial arts of all time.'

Despite his blue pallor, the stranger blushed a deep shade of red. 'Well I suppose some might call me-'

'Can you direct me to him?'

'…'

'Sorry,' Kale said, noticing that the blue stranger was grinding his teeth, 'I didn't mean to imply you were a doorman or anything.'

A vein stuck outwards in his blue forehead. 'I AM HIM!' he roared at Kale, 'HE IS ME! I AM THE GREATEST MARTIAL ARTS TEACER OF ALL TIME, KING KAI!'

'Oh... I see. Well, why didn't you say so to begin with,' Kale said with a weak smile, 'It's just that you don't really look the type.'

King Kai turned around with a 'Humph' and clasped his hands behind his back. 'Says the guy lying on the ground with the hole in his back.'

Kale let out a weak laugh. 'Sorry about that King Kai. I'm Kale. I'd bow but I don't think I can move much now.'

'You'll have to get used to the gravity here,' King Kai said, turning back around to face Kale, 'that is if you came here with the intent of training under me.'

'Yes, you're right. I came here using the Dragon- RAAAAGGGGHHHHH!'

Suddenly, Kale began to scream as if he was in immense pain. His arms and legs flailed uncontrollably as his body twisted so violently it was unaffected by the stronger gravity.

'BLAAAARGH!' King Kai cried out in alarm, falling backwards, 'Kale don't do that!'

King Kai stared. 'Kale?'

Kale gave no response except to scream even louder. His voice became so strained that his screams turned from a high pitched painful wail to a low groan. Kale's eyes rolled back into his head and his veins stood out over his body.

'Oh boy,' King Kai said, trying to move close to Kale to help, whilst simultaneously avoiding Kale's limbs, 'I probably should have patched him up the moment he got here.'

…

SITE OF THE DRAGON BALLS

'Your wish has been granted.'

The crowd of IA soldiers all stopped talking at once at Shenron's declaration.

'Hey did ya hear that fellas?' one of them spoke up, 'He must a finished making us immortal!'

The soldiers began to whoop and cheer in excitement, as the seven Dragon Balls began to rise into the air.

'Farewell!' Shenron cried as he vanished in a flash of light. The Dragon Balls began to spin rapidly, continuing to rise above the tree line before all seven shot out across the horizon in different directions.

'Well, Ivy wont be too happy that we lost the Dragon Balls,' one of the soldiers said, 'but at least we became immortal!'

'But I don't feel no different,' another one said, 'how do we know it worked?'

One of the soldiers appeared in front of him with his arm outstretched. 'Like this!' he roared, firing a blast through the chest of the soldier.

The soldiers around them all began to laugh, others following suit and attacking one another. It was only when they had managed to kill half their comrades that they began to doubt the dragon had granted their wish after all.

SEVERAL KILOMETERS SOUTH-EAST OF THE INTERGALACTIC ARMY BASE

Kinwa's eyes widened in shock. The enormous yellow light Lan and her had been speeding towards had been where they were sensing Kale. Now only the soldiers they had been pursuing could be felt. As she looked on, the light flashed brightly once and then vanished.

'Lan, I can't sense Kale anymore,' she called to Lan beside her.

Lan gritted her teeth. 'I know, I can't either.'

A cold feeling came over Kinwa. 'But what can that mean?'

'I don't know. That bright light wasn't an attack, Kale must have been attacked and forced to use the Dragon Balls. His power level was dropping just now. If he felt he was cornered then- GRRRAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!'

Lan broke off in mid-sentence and stopped dead. She grabbed the sides of her head hard, clenched her jaw and screamed through her teeth.

'Lan!' Kinwa yelled out, rushing to her friend. As she reached her Lan began to fall out of the sky, unable to keep herself airborne and Kinwa quickly caught her.

'What is it Lan? Tell me what's wrong,' Kinwa pleaded desperately.

It was as though Lan couldn't hear her. She threw back her head and screamed in pain.

Kinwa put one of Lan's quivering arms around her shoulder and with her free hand she pressed her scouter to open a channel to Nett.

She had to wait only a few seconds before her scouter pinged and Nett was on the other side.

'What is it?' he shouted over the sounds of the battle back at the base, 'Did you catch up to Kale.'

'No, we couldn't make it in time' Kinwa replied, speaking loudly over Lan's yells, 'we can't sense him anymore and I think he had to use the Dragon Balls. That's not the most immediate problem right now, Lan's having some sort of seizure and she wont snap out of it.'

'What?' Nett asked impatiently, 'Are you kidding me?'

'I'm serious Nett! Something is really wrong with her. We have to try and escape and catch up to where Kale was. We can't fight with Lan like this.'

There were several cries of pain from the other end of the line before Nett answered. 'Alright keep heading towards where you last felt Kale and we'll be there shortly. One way or another.'

Kinwa sped as fast as she could, weighed down by the weight of Lan.

 _Kale, what's happened to you?_

…

EARTH'S SPEACIAL FORCES HQ

Major Howl pushed open the flap to the command tent and walked inside. Lettis and Dykon stood around the table, both looked up when Howl entered. Both looked tense.

'No word from Nett?' Dykon asked Howl.

'None,' Howl replied, shaking his shaggy head, 'No word directly but the units stationed at the rendezvous point where the Z Squad was supposed to meet them have picked up raised power levels on their long range scanners.'

Dykon nodded. 'Seems there is a battle going on somewhere.'

'So is that it?' Howl asked, his fangs bared, 'We just sit back and do nothing?'

Straitening up, Dykon walked around the table to Howl. 'At this stage, there's nothing we can do. We have put our faith in Nett and the others, and I believe- RRRRAAAGGGH!'

Dykon fell flat onto the floor in front of Howl. At first Howl thought he had only tripped, until Dykon began to scream as if in terrible pain and thrash uncontrollably on the floor.

Lettis and Howl stood still for a moment, too shocked to move, then both of them moved to help Dykon.

Howl quickly tore off his belt and tried to stuff it in Dykon's mouth to prevent him biting off his tongue.

'Get a medic, quick!' Howl shouted to Lettis.

As Lettis ran from the tent Howl desperately tried to hang onto to Dykon's head. The General moved as if he was possessed by a demonic spirit.

Howl swore and yelled, 'Medic,' through the open tent flap.

As his sharp ears picked up the sound of running footsteps, Howl whispered to Dykon, 'Hang on big guy.'

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE

Jean piled up the meal's dishes and made her way over to the kitchen sink. She, Peppe, Corro, Reed and Vert had just finished their dinner, and it was her turn to do the cleaning.

Soon after Jean and Peppe had come to their village, the Nameks had been quick to expand their cuisine to adapt to their village's new residents.

The stream that ran though the Namekian village had plenty of fish to catch, and there was never a shortage as the Humans were the only ones who ever consumed them. The Nameks had also cleared some of the forest near the village and had grown rice fields. Rice had caught on and the Nameks had found it to their liking.

Jean returned to the living area to collect the remaining dirty dishes. Peppe and the Nameks were still seated around the table laughing at a joke one of them had made.

As Jean bent over the table a line of pain shot of her spine. Arching her back, Jean screwed up her face and opened her mouth in a silent scream. Her legs gave out beneath her and she fell to the ground.

Corro, Reed and Vert stared in shock as across the table Peppe began to suffer a similar fit.

Coming to his senses, Corro jumped up and moved to Jean's side.

'What's going on? Heal them Corro!' Reed cried.

'I-I'm trying,' Corro stammered, his hands glowing over Jean's body, 'but there's nothing wrong with them!'

'Wha...what!' Reed said in disbelief.

Vert jumped up and threw his stool to the edge of the room. 'Leave them for now,' he called to the young Nameks, 'move everything or they could hurt themselves!'

The old Namek pushed the last stool out of the way and together the three of pushed the table against the wall, leaving Jean and Peppe thrashing on the open floor of the living room.

'Vert, what's wrong with them?' Reed asked, echoing Corro's thoughts.

'I don't know,' Vert said, putting his hands on the two Namek's shoulders, 'All we can do is hope they come out of it, soon and unchanged.'

…

The dragon has been summoned and the wishes have been made, but what does it mean for our heroes? Will it be enough to tip the balance in favour of the Earth's fighters?

What's to become of Kale, Lan, Dykon, Jean and Peppe stricken by the same sudden fit? How will the rest of the rest of the Z Squad fare, deep in enemy territory? And what must King Kai have in mind for Kale, if he ever recovers at all?

The answers to these questions and more will be revealed in the next chapter of Dragon Ball: Age 1000!


	3. Part Two

PART TWO: THE TUTELAGE OF KING KAI

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE – AGE 1000

When Jean awoke, the first thing she noticed was the coppery taste of blood in her mouth. The second thing was just how sore her body was. She was curled up on her her bed in a tight ball and as she slowly stretched out her arms and legs, she gasped at the pain in her limbs.

Now lying straight on her bed, Jean clenched her eyes tightly shut and opened her mouth in a silent snarl, her lips curling as she pushed through the pain.

Letting out a groan, she slowly sat up and rubbed her forearms weakly. Stars swam before her eyes and she blinked trying to clear her head.

'Jean?' Corro stuck his head through the doorway to her bedroom.

She turned to look at him but only managed to say, 'Corro,' before a wave of nausea racked her body and almost drove her forward off the bed.

Corro quickly moved to her side, gently telling her take it slowly. He sat beside her on the bed and put his arm around her shoulders, holding her upright.

'What,' Jean began, wincing as her temples ached, 'what happened to me last night?'

The young Namek shook his head. 'I couldn't tell you. One minute the two of you were fine, and the next you and Peppe were thrashing around the floor.'

Jean squinted, trying to focus on what he was saying.

'Peppe, he, we,' she said slowly, 'we had the same fit?'

'It seemed that way. It was very strange. The both of you having the same fit at the exact same time. Seizures aren't unheard of, but the way the two of you collapsed was just strange.'

Jean paused before asking, 'Can you tell me what happened last night?'

'Come with me,' Corro said, getting off the bed, 'can you stand?'

Jean nodded slowly and he held out his arm to her.

The shuffled into the living area of the house, moving slowly with Jean leaning on Corro for support.

At the table sat Vert and Reed. Next to Reed was Peppe. The young boy looked about as bad as Jean felt. His face was pale except for dark purple circles around his eyes.

As they entered the room, Vert rose quickly and moved to help guide Jean to a seat at the table.

When everybody was seated Vert asked Jean gently, 'How are you feeling my dear?'

She gave him a weak smile and said, 'I feel like rubbish, but thanks for asking anyway.'

Jean looked at Peppe beside her who looked back, his eyes half closed. She turned back towards the elder.

'What happened last night?' she asked.

Vert looked grave. 'I couldn't tell you for sure. Neither myself, nor any of the other elders have ever experienced anything like it. We've seen seizures before but what happened to the two of you last night was unheard of. You both suffered a violent seizure at the same time, and after that you fell unconscious.'

Reed spoke up. 'You guys have been out of it all morning. Nothing we could do could wake you up.'

Corro leant forward. 'Jean, is there anything you can tell us about what happened last night?' he asked softly.

She shook her head. 'Sorry, I'm just as stumped as you guys. I wish I knew why we skitzed out cause my whole body is killing me. It feels-'

Jean broke off as what sounded unmistakeably like an engine could be heard from outside. There was a rush of wind and the side of the house was beaten by the gust. The Corro and Reed sat still, looking at each other with wide eyes while Vert rose from his seat slowly.

Through the pain in her head Jean's mind raced. The Namekian village was very secluded. It hadn't had a visitor in years. Not since Kale had left with the two Earth's Special Forces soldiers.

Before anyone could move towards the door, it flung open and one of the villagers rushed in.

'Elder, you must come quickly,' he said breathlessly. He spoke to Vert but his eyes were on Corro. 'A stranger has come, a man who says he wishes to speak to Corro.'

The Namek regained his composer and added, 'Demanded would be more accurate though.'

Vert and Corro exchanged a glance and then strode from the room with Reed following behind.

Easing herself up off her seat Jean said to Peppe, 'Come on, lets go see what's going on.'

The two helped each other outside of the house. The villagers had all gathered around a small hovercar that had landed in the centre of the village. Jean and Peppe pushed through the crowd until they could see what was going on.

Standing beside the car was a man who was short and very fat. He had a huge mass of grey hair that stuck up and fell past his waist. His eyes very small, black and beady and he had a large untidy moustache. His face was lined with age but his arms still looked strong.

The stranger wore an orange yakuta, that was in desperate need of a wash, simple straw sandals and sticking out of his belt was a short katana.

In front of him stood Vert and Corro, and the strange man had a scowl on his face as he spoke to them.

'What is it you want with Corro?' Jean heard Vert ask the man as she and Peppe drew closer.

The stranger crossed his arms.

'I'm assuming the dude next to you Corro,' he spoke in a bored drawl, 'I'm supposed to come and take him to see Korin, the God of Martial Arts.'

Vert and Corro stared openly and the Nameks around them began to whisper amongst each other.

Peppe tugged at Jean's dress and asked her, 'What's a Korin?'

'Shhh,' Jean told him, trying to sound like she knew what was going on, 'didn't you hear what he said? He's the God of Martial Arts'.

As she turned back to face the crowd, Corro asked the man, 'What does the God of Martial Arts want with me?'

The stranger shrugged. 'Beats me. He said something about your potential, and wanting to train you so you'd get stronger.'

Corro didn't reply. He only looked dumbfounded.

'Oh yeah I almost forgot,' the stranger added, 'Korin wanted me to pick some other guys up as well. He said they'd be here too.'

'Who are you looking for?' Vert asked him.

'Three people by the name of Reed, Jean and Peppe.'

The crowd turned to look at Jean and Peppe, and Jean felt her face flush red.

'What do you want with them?' she asked the man.

'Pfft I don't know. Korin probably wants to train them as well,' he replied, squinting at her, 'What's it to you anyway girly?'

Jean raised one eyebrow and the man did a double take.

'Oh man!' he said horrified, 'Don't tell me that this squirt is one of them!'

'I'm Jean,' she said with a scowl, 'This is Peppe, and that's Reed,' she said pointing at the young Namek.

The stranger frowned and clenched his fists. 'What! Nobody told me that I would be babysitting a bunch of kids! This stinks.'

Reed lept forward and flipped through the air, landing in front of Vert with an excited look on his face.

'Oh Vert, can we go? Pleeeeease?'

'I don't know about this guy,' Corro said quietly, 'how do we know he's telling the truth?'

The old Namek was silent for a minute, ignoring Reed hopping from one foot to the other in front of him.

At last he said, 'He knows of Korin, and to be honest that is enough for me to trust him.'

Corro's brow lifted. 'Really? You trust him based off of that? Look at him.'

'I didn't say that I liked him,' Vert replied, turning to face Corro, 'There's not many people who know of Korin's existence. Especially nowadays.'

'Yeah and I guess I'm one of them.'

'Don't be smart with me young man,' Vert said glaring at Corro, 'I've been meaning to speak to you about teaching martial arts to Jean and Peppe, though this is hardly the time for admonishments, given our visitor's arrival.'

'If you've quite finished talking about me as if I'm not here,' the stranger interrupted loudly, 'can we go already?'

'Why does Korin want to train myself and the others?' Corro asked him.

The man shrugged again. 'Something to do with saving the planet from all of these killer aliens. He reckons you guys could get really strong and help in the fight. Ask him yourself anyway.'

Jean strode forward through the crowd towards him. Her mind was already made up.

'I'm going,' she said, her hands on her hips.

She turned to face the others. 'You three should come too. This is our chance to become stronger.'

With all the eyes on her Jean felt much taller and older than she really was.

 _This is it. Now it's my turn. My turn to overtake Kale._

Jean hadn't given her brother a thought for some time, but now that she did, she felt sure of herself, rather than upset.

'Jean's right,' Corro said to Vert, 'Kale left to try and make a difference. We have the power to make a difference too.'

Reed moved to stand next to Jean. 'I'm going anyway, no matter what anyone says!'

'Me too!' Peppe said, stepping forward.

Vert shoulders fell slightly. His wrinkled face was set but there a sadness in his eyes. Two other elderly Nameks drew close and put their hands on his shoulders, and Vert seemed to draw strength from their touch.

'It seems more of our young folk are leaving to go off and fight in this war we didn't start, leaving the old behind in their pursuit of glory,' he said, 'If it were up to me I'd only allow Corro to go, but I know there'd be no keeping Reed behind.'

The old Namek strode forward and placed both hands on Corro's shoulders.

'You have a strong heart Corro,' he told the Namek, 'look after your brother.'

'And Reed,' he said, turning towards the younger Namek, 'Make sure you do everything Corro tells you. This isn't a game.'

…

Ten minutes later after some rushed goodbyes, Jean and the others were all crammed inside of the stranger's car. Jean was stuck in the back, sandwiched between Reed and Peppe. All four of them had packed a bag with a change of clothes, which, much to her annoyance, Jean had ended up being the one to hold them on her lap.

On either side of her Peppe and Reed talked unceasingly, as the stranger warned them for the third time about spilling anything on his seats. Through the noise Corro sat comfortably in the passenger seat, a polite smile on his face.

Calling out over the two boys Jean said, 'Can we just go now!'

'Alright already lets get moving,' he said, as he turned the car on and began to raise it into the sky.

'You know, we didn't catch your name earlier?' Corro asked the man.

'It's Yajirobe,' the man told them, as the the hovercar shot into the sky, 'and no, I won't spell it for you. Oh and don't bother asking, we're listening to my music, my car, so my rules. So if everybody's okay with that we can get out of here already, I'm hungry!'

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

Kale's eyes snapped open. His body jerked as he tried to sit bolt upright, but was held down by the strong gravity. All he could do was stare at the yellow, stone roof above him.

Taking some deep breaths to calm himself Kale slowly tried to remember where he was.

Recollections from the previous night flashed rapidly in his mind. He remembered the Intergalactic Army base, the Dragon Balls, the flight away, the dragon, the wishes and...

 _King Kai! Of course!_

As his breathing regulated Kale began to take in what was around him. He was lying on a cot in a cosy, circular house, not unlike a Namekian house, but much more colourfully decorated.

To his left, Kale could hear someone humming lightly. Slowly he turned his head around and the house's small kitchen came into view.

King Kai was standing over the sink with his back to Kale. His sleeves were rolled up as he busied himself with washing the dishes.

In the centre of the house was a rough wooden table, and on that table sat the strange monkey Kale had met.

When it saw Kale was awake it began hooting animately and jumped up and down on the spot.

King Kai turned around to see what the noise was about, then, seeing that Kale was awake, said, 'Well now, it's good to see you awake.'

He turned away from the sink, shaking the soap suds off his hands and drying them on a cloth.

'I must say you gave us quite a fright Kale,' he told him, 'you nearly gave me a heart attack and Bubbles here ran up a tree half scared to death!'

King Kai took a seat at the table as Kale pushed himself up onto his elbow.

'So,' King Kai began, 'you were pretty beat up last night but that was something else. Have you suffered from a seizure like that before?'

Kale ran a hand over his face and said, 'Seizure? Is that what it was?'

'You mean that was the first time?' King Kai asked, raising his eyebrows.

'I guess. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before,' Kale replied as he pushed up against the gravity to sit on the edge of the cot.

His armour and boots had been removed, and his shirt had been cut away to allow access his wound. Wrapped around his chest were thick white bandages. Two plasters had been placed over the bruises on his face were the enemy soldiers had struck him.

Kale winced slightly as he twisted his waist, but the pain was minimal.

'I got you all fixed up soon after you arrived,' King Kai told him, 'you didn't make it easy, what with your arms and legs flailing about, but I managed it.'

'Thanks King Kai,' Kale said with a weak smile.

'Oh, don't mention it, my boy. At first I thought it was very strange, seeing someone so beat up. It didn't take me long to realise that you were actually not dead, but a live visitor.'

Kale blinked. 'You mean that only dead people come here?'

King Kai laughed. 'Well of course, who else would? I suppose I do play host to the occasional god, but for the most part it's the spirits of departed warriors that come here, looking to become stronger and learn from a master.'

Kale was beginning to wonder if that soldier had hit his head harder than he had originally thought.

'But obviously you're not dead, my boy,' King Kai went on, 'the distinct lack of a halo should have given it away from the start. You're the first live one to come here for a long time!

'If I may,' King Kai said, peering at Kale closely, 'I'd hazard a guess that you're from Earth, am I right? You must have come here using the Dragon Balls!'

'You know about the Dragon Balls?' Kale asked, his eyes widening.

King Kai laughed again. 'Well of course I do. You don't get to be a King by standing around looking pretty you know, I know all about Earth, it's my job! Earth is located in the Northern quadrant of the galaxy and I'm the king who presides of that part of the universe.'

'Then you must know everything about what has been happening on Earth lately,' Kale said.

'Yes indeed,' King Kai replied, becoming serious, 'dreadfully bad news. It's not just Earth you know, Rose's influence stretches all across the galaxy, whole systems have been conquered by his army. It's not just me, the other Kais who preside over the rest of the galaxy have been under pressure.'

'That's just it King Kai,' Kale said with a smile, 'that's why I came here. I'm part of the Earth's resistance against the invading army. I came here to learn to fight and to get stronger to help my planet, that is, if you're okay with that,' Kale finished, not wanting to sound presumptuous.

'Naturally I'll help you,' King Kai replied, getting to his feet, 'anything we can do to stand up to Rose, I am happy to be a part of.'

'Alright!' Kale cried, pulling himself up off the cot, 'Thanks King Kai!'

'Don't mention it,' King Kai said, waving his hand casually, 'if you train here as hard as you can for the next ten years, why then you'd be stronger than anyone back on Earth!'

'T-ten years?' Kale stammered.

'Well, yes,' King Kai said, looking up at him, 'you don't become an expert fighter over night, you know. Everybody has to start somewhere.'

Kale shifted uncomfortably. 'I know that, it's just that all the fighters I know seem so good at it. Plus the longer I stay here, the worse it could get back on Earth. Technically I've gone A.W.O.L' he said with a nervous laugh.

'Pish posh, don't worry about those other fighters, let's worry about what you can do,' King Kai told him, 'and as for things back home, we'll just see how we go for now. So to start with, follow me outside.'

'Alright!' Kale said, his earlier enthusiasm returning.

As he tried to take a step forward his leg wobbled beneath the weight of his body and he quickly sat back down on the cot.

'Umm, one thing first King Kai,' Kale called after him.

'Oh, what's that?' King Kai asked, looking back at Kale from the doorway.

'Can we have something to eat, I'm starving!' Kale told him, both hands pressed against his stomach.

King Kai stared at him for a moment, eyebrows raised behind his glasses.

'Well, uhh, yes we can,' he told Kale, coming back into the house, 'forgive my inhospitable manners, but when it's the dead who mainly come to visit, one doesn't bother to leave out snacks.'

…

An alarmingly short time later, Kale pushed the plate of his sixth meal away and called out, 'More please!'

'B-b-but you just finished your sixth dish!' King Kai stuttered, wiping away the sweat from his forehead.

Kale burped loudly. 'I know, and boy, were they good. Those pork buns really hit the spot!'

Kale covered his mouth, 'Oops, sorry King Kai. Didn't mean to be rude in front of royalty. Anyway what's next on the menu?'

King Kai looked at the fresh pile of dirty dishes on the table and said, 'Well there's nothing more right now, I only prepared those ones and I never thought we'd eat them all.'

'Oh man,' Kale said downcast, putting his hands on his belly, 'I suppose it will have to do for now. Although...'

He stood up and began bouncing on the spot on one foot at a time.

'I'm feeling much better now that I've got some food in me!'

'Oh my...' King Kai said staring at Kale. In just a short time he had completely changed from someone who could barely move on his planet, to a fired up youth moving almost freely.

King Kai stroked his chin and looked thoughtful, before walking around the table to a cupboard set against the wall.

'Alright Kale, lets begin with your training,' he said, as he opened the cupboard.

Over Kale's whoop of excitement he added, 'But before we do I want you to put these on.'

Turning from the cupboard, King Kai dropped a folded shirt and a pair of shorts onto the table, which landed with a loud _THUD_!

Kale bent over the table and stared at the clothes. Both pieces were black and looked to be form fitting, but other than that Kale didn't see anything special about them.

'Umm, you want me to get dressed King Kai?' Kale asked.

'That's right,' the King replied as he walked outside, 'you'll find a matching pair of gloves and shoes in the cupboard as well, but make sure it's the black ones you put on! Oh, and grab an over shirt and some pants as well, don't worry about the colour when you pick out those!'

 _Well, I suppose there's nothing strange about a uniform._

Kale thought it didn't seem strange, but as he picked up the shirt from the table he pitched forward, the weight of the shirt sending him crashing into the table.

'You alright in there Kale?' King Kai called from outside.

'King Kai,' Kale said, struggling to stand upright, 'these clothes weigh a ton. Am I supposed to wear them?'

'Of course,' King Kai replied with a chuckle, 'all the best fighters train with weighted training clothes. Some even keep them on all the time so when they get into a big fight they can take them off and fight unrestricted, catching their opponents off guard!'

After much struggling Kale managed to pull the shirt and shorts on. The earlier feeling of being barely able to move had returned as Kale slowly walked over to the cupboard.

When he pulled a pair of black boots in his size off the shelf, he immediately dropped them to the floor, unable to hold their weight. Shaking his head, Kale pulled on a pair of fingerless gloves which weighed down his arms and made them hang uselessly by his sides.

Forcing his right hand up onto one of the shelves, Kale grabbed a shirt and pants in matching sky blue and sat down on a chair with a thud that shook the house.

While he pulled on the shirt and pants, and fastened the boots, the chair he was sitting on began to creak threateningly.

Finally clothed, Kale began to walk outside, hands raised to shoulder height to keep his blood circulating, placing each foot down one after the other with a heavy thud.

Outside, King Kai was feeding the birds in the bird bath that sat in the centre of his garden. He looked around when he heard Kale approach.

'Oh so you finally made it huh?' he said to Kale, 'I was beginning to think you weren't coming.'

'I... didn't think... I... was going to make it,' Kale said through gritted teeth, 'I can...barely...move in these clothes.'

'Ho ho, well then, it's a good thing your first lesson will be to get used to the gravity here' King Kai replied with a chuckle.

He turned away from Kale and called out to one of the trees in his yard, 'Bubbles! Come here!'

The monkey quickly scaled down the trunk of the tree and came to his side, as King Kai turned back to face Kale.

'Now,' he began, 'your first lesson is very simple, but I think you'll find it much harder once you get started.'

He placed a hand on Bubbles head and told Kale, 'Your first lesson will be to catch Bubbles.'

'I just have to grab him?' Kale asked uncertainly.

'That's right!' King Kai said, raising a finger, 'Run after Bubbles until you catch him. Once you have done that we will move on to your second lesson!'

'Oh, okay,' Kale said, reaching for the monkey.

Bubbles gave a loud shriek and took off away from Kale leaving him next to the garden while King Kai laughed loudly.

'I did warn you,' he told Kale 'for Bubbles this is normal, but for you the gravity is ten times stronger than that of Earth's!'

'What! Ten times greater! Are you serious King Kai?' Kale asked him.

King Kai ignored him and walked back to his house. 'Go on get started,' then adding in a low grumbling voice, he said, 'meanwhile I have to go wash another load of dishes.'

Kale looked over at Bubbles who was sitting a short distance away, picking bugs out of his fur. Kale grinned and began to slowly walk over to him.

'That's it Bubbles,' he said in a low voice, creeping closer, 'nice monkey, I just wanna talk.'

Bubbles looked up at Kale, regarding him warily.

'No need to worry,' Kale said, arms outstretched, 'just stay right there.'

Taking one last step towards the monkey Kale said slowly, 'Stay... right... THERE!' and on "there" he jumped forward, arms flung wide, diving to grab hold of Bubbles.

Bubbles cried out in alarm and at the last moment he sprung away from Kale.

Unable to save himself from the fall, Kale crashed into the ground hard enough to make his teeth shake.

'That does it,' Kale said, getting to his feet, a red mark already forming on his forehead, and a scowl on his face, 'no more mister nice guy, come here monkey!'

Kale began to chase after Bubbles as fast as he could walk. His quarry strolled leisurely away just out of his reach.

…

KORIN TOWER

Yajirobe's hovercar covered the last strip of the column that held up the lofty tower where Korin, the God of Martial Arts, resided.

When they had reached the base of the tower jutting above the treeline Yajirobe had flown straight up.

As the hovercar slowed and Yajirobe carefully landed it inside the tower Corro was grateful that their flight was over. He didn't know much more his stomach could have taken. Or how much longer Jean's nerves could last sitting in between the two boys in the back.

As the car touched down Yajirobe said, 'Alright everybody out now. You've reached your destination, and all that.'

Corro stepped out of the car and the first thing he noticed was the expansive view. The sky was the clearest blue, and stretched on as far as the eye could see. It was wondrous to behold.

 _How high up must we be? I've never flown anywhere as close to this high._

Behind him the three children tumbled out of the car all at once.

'Hey wonder boy,' Yajirobe said to Corro, jolting him out of his daydreaming, 'get your stuff out of my car and get these kids out of here!'

Corro turned around to see Jean, Reed and Peppe lying on the floor. One of their bags had opened and various pieces of clothing had been flung out. Somehow Jean had ended up on the bottom of the pile, while the two other children climbed on her and each other, trying to get upright.

Stifling a laugh, Corro moved to help them. When everyone was on their feet again, and tempers had cooled, Yajirobe pressed a button on the side of the car and it vanished in a puff of smoke, appearing again as a small capsule, which Yajirobe caught and placed in one of his pockets.

Now was the first time Corro could properly take in their surroundings. The five of them were standing in a large circular space with a high domed roof. The sides of which were open to the sky, held up by white columns. It had been through one of these openings that the group had entered from.

Behind them, a narrow staircase led down to the levels below, but presently Corro's attention was fixed on the centre of the room where stood the strangest assortment of people he had ever laid eyes on.

First in the line was a Namek, only about an inch taller than he was, but much more powerfully built.

On the Namekian's right, a tall Human stood with her arms crossed. She wore a dark coat, and had a long sword slung over her back and a line of crossed tattoos down her right arm.

Next to the tall woman was another Human, who looked almost comical beside her companion. She would have only been a handful of inches taller than Jean was. Despite her size, her appearance and poise made her impressive.

Rolling around on the balls of his feet was an enormous Majin. Next to his companions he looked very out of place. Unlike the other three, who all looked serious, he had a big smile on his face, and waved as they approached.

Strangest of all was the one standing in front of the four strangers. He looked like a plump, white house cat, except he was much larger than a normal cat, and stood on his hind legs. One of his arms was wrapped around a carved wooden staff, and his eyes sat almost closed, giving him a permanently sleepy expression.

As the four of them drew closer, the strange cat called out, 'Hey, good ta see you guys made it. Sorry if Yajirobe gave you a hard time.'

Corro's eyes widened, not believing what he had just seen.

'Did... did that cat just talk?' Jean asked.

'Oh lovely,' the cat replied, stroking his whiskers, 'a fifth of the Earth's population are animal citizens, and yet everybody is still always surprised to see a talking cat.'

'If it makes you feel any better, I didn't see it coming either,' the woman with the sword said with a half smile.

Yajirobe stepped forward, a scowl on his face. 'Alright Korin, here's the guys you were after. Now if there's nothing else, your Lordship, I think I feel like having a snack and a long nap.'

The cat waved a paw dismissively and said, 'Go on then sourpuss, no pun intended, get out of here.'

As Yajirobe walked away the cat turned to the newly arrived group and said, 'Anyway, now that that's out of the way we can get to business, you see-'

'Are you Korin?' Peppe interrupted.

'Yes,' the cat replied slowly.

'But you're a cat?'

'That's right.'

Peppe looked puzzled. 'So you're the God of Martial Arts?'

Corro stepped forward. 'Enough Peppe,' he told the young boy, then turning to Korin he said, 'please forgive him Sir, he's only a child.

Korin sighed. 'No harm done, it's not the first time someone hasn't been able to believe their eyes. But anyway...'

He turned and walked back to the other group.

'I think some introductions are in order. You guys, this is Nett, Lanthal, Kinwa and Bobo,' Korin called out, indicating to each one of the strangers in turn.

The Namek, Nett, gave a small wave, and Kinwa flashed the group a smile.

'And this,' Korin said turning to face Corro and the others, 'is Corro, Jean, Reed and Peppe.'

Corro gave them a friendly smile and said, 'Hello'. Beside him Jean smiled but stayed quiet, seemingly shy.

Not feeling shy at all, Peppe and Reed ran up to the woman named Lanthal, wonder and admiration in their eyes.

'Cool sword,' Reed told her, 'you ever kill anyone with it?'

'Reed!' Corro cried in horror, but Lanthal smiled at him and said, 'It's alright.'

Looking back down at the two boys, she bent down and asked, 'Did I ever?'

She held out her arm to them and flexed the biceps on her right arm, making the lines tattooed down her arm ripple.

'Count the lines and you'll know just how many have fallen to my sword,' she told them confidently.

As the young boys looked on in admiration, the other woman, Kinwa, rolled her eyes at her friend's boasting.

'You'll have to get used to that,' Nett said, walking forward to shake Jean and Corro's hands, 'it's just how Lan is.

'Good to meet the two of you,' he added to Corro, then with a glance at Jean, he said, 'all of you.'

'You as well,' Corro said with a smile, 'but what is it the four of you are doing here?'

'That,' Nett replied, looking around at Korin, 'is a very good question.'

Korin tilted his head to one side and purred deep in his throat.

'Okay so here's the low down,' he told the group, walking amongst them, 'Nett, and his group, are members of the Earth's Special Forces, which means-'

'Which means we are technically going A.W.O.L. for being here,' Nett said.

'Which means,' Korin continued, ignoring the interruption, 'that they're fighting to free the Earth from the bad guys. Now at the moment we ain't doing so well. Which is where you guys come in.'

He turned to face Corro, Jean, Reed and Peppe.

'Us?' Reed asked.

'Yeah, you' Korin replied, stroking his chin, 'the good guys need all the help they can get. The four of you are strong, strong enough for me to take an interest.'

Korin broke off and walked up to Nett, looking up at the Namek's face.

'You want to know what you're doing here Nett? You're here to learn from me.'

Lan crossed her arms behind her head and smirked. 'Just what can we learn from a walking, talking cat?' she asked.

Koring moved so fast he appeared as a blur, leaving his staff wobbling on the spot in front of Nett. Faster than any of them could react, he moved to Lan's side and jabbed her hard in the stomach, before moving back to catch his staff before it fell over.

Lan fell to her knees, grabbing her gut and gasping for air. The rest of the group tensed but Korin only walked away chuckling to himself.

'Typical young people,' he said to them, 'no respect for what an old master has to teach them.'

Reed jumped forwards and cried, 'Wow! Can you teach me to do that?'

'Well sure I can,' Korin said, turning towards him, 'that bit at the start is what you call an After Image. You move so fast your opponent sees a fake image of you. And I'll be teaching it to all of you.

'So here's my proposition guys, you all stay here and train under me. Nett, these guys-' he pointed to Corro and the others, '-are the kind of people your army needs.'

Nett didn't say anything. He crossed his arms and looked thoughtful.

'You mean you think we should the Earth's Special Forces?' Jean asked Korin.

'That's right,' Korin replied.

Corro could tell that Jean was thinking about Kale. In light of what Korin had said, he was too.

'By the time you're finished with me, you'll be strong enough to join, if you ain't strong enough already,' Korin went on.

Beside him, Jean clenched her fists. 'That's enough for me,' she told them, 'I'll do it.'

Corro put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled at her. When she looked up at him, she returned it.

Kinwa stepped forward. 'Woah, woah, just hang on a sec. You don't get to just jump in and ride along with the professionals,' she said.

'Kinwa's right,' Nett admitted, 'what do the four of you bring to the table.'

Reed scoffed. 'Well that's easy enough,' the young Namek boasted, 'my brother's a really strong fighter. Plus he's got the power to heal any wound _you_ guys might get.'

'Yeah!' Peppe said, speaking up, 'He trained all of us to be really strong too. Just let us show you!'

Nett smiled at the boys' enthusiasm and, snapping his fingers, Korin said, 'You know, that's an excellent idea. Alright, lets see...'

As he began counting the fighters gathered, Kinwa asked, 'Hang on, you want us to fight them?'

'Mm hmm,' Korin replied, counting the total on his fingers.

'But they're just a bunch of kids,' Kinwa went on.

Reed cracked his knuckles. 'Oh man, are you gonna be sorry for that,' the young Namek told her.

Kinwa opened her mouth to say something scathing, but Korin quickly spoke over her, 'Okay, okay that's enough out of everyone. So we got an even number here so let's say...

'How about the two older Nameks-' he pointed to Corro and Nett, '-and we'll put Reed up against Lan, Peppe against Kinwa, and I guess that makes the last one Jean going against Bobo. Sorry about that Jean , but I'm sure you can handle him.'

Nett flashed Corro a small smile, sizing him up, which Corro tentatively returned. They'd barely been here for five minutes, and already they were going to fight.

Korin clapped his paws together. 'Alright, make some space!' he called out to the fighters.

Nett sprung out to the edge of the room and Corro followed him. Around them the other fighters took up positions away from each other, all of them settling into their stances.

'Okay,' Nett said to Corro, cracking his neck with one hand, 'lets just see what you can do, brother.'

Corro smirked and pulled off his long coat. Underneath he wore a simple sleeveless white shirt, with a traditional Namek collar.

'You're about to,' he told Nett, letting his coat fall to the floor.

Nett grinned at his response, and settled into his stance.

From the centre of the room Korin called out, 'Okay everyone, we'll just keep this a friendly match, Corro's crew, remember you are up against professionals. As for the rest of you, don't get cocky, these guys might surprise you. Alright everybody ready? Okay, ding ding ding, and all that. Let's get started!'

Nett launched himself at Corro, his hand curled into a fist and raised above his head. Corro ran to meet him.

Corro side stepped Nett's punch and came in low with one of his own. Nett blocked the punch with his left hand, then brought his right hand around, aiming to strike a back-handed punch to the face.

Corro raised his left hand to block it, but saw too late that it was a feint. Nett let his arm swing wide, then used his momentum to twist and send him flying back with a kick to the jaw.

He landed hard, but was up in a flash. Nett crossed his arms and smiled. Cracking his neck and moving his jaw up and down, Corro returned it.

Nett took up his stance again and beckoned towards Corro.

Corro jumped forward, lunging at Nett and leaving himself open.

Nett smirked and moved to catch Corro in mid-air with a blow to the stomach. At the last second Corro disappeared and Nett's eyes widened as he struck only air. A fraction of a second later Corro caught him from behind, driving him to the floor with a blow to the back of the head.

Pulling himself onto one knee, Nett rubbed the back of his head. Corro was standing where he had been, and it was his turn to smirk at Nett.

'Alright, looks like it's one for one,' Nett told him, straightening up and wiping the spit away from his mouth.

'Hyah!' Corro cried, letting his energy loose, his aura swirling around him.

Nett had to give him credit. He was good.

'Let's see what else you got!' he yelled, and ran to meet the other Namek again.

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

As Corro, Jean, Reed and Peppe begin their training alongside the Z Squad under Master Korin, far away in another part of the universe, Kale continues his trial to catch a certain mischievous monkey...

…

King Kai yawned and stretched as he stepped out of his house to check on Kale's progress.

'Uhhh, sorry for disappearing like that Kale,' he said, one hand over his mouth, 'I only lay down for a second and before I knew it, I was asleep.'

The King rubbed his eyes as Kale and Bubbles ran past.

'You're making excellent progress my boy,' he told Kale sleepily.

 _Wait, progress? Ran? What's going on?_

King Kai's eyes followed Kale as he chased after Bubbles, all grogginess lifted in wake of the shocking scene he was watching.

In the short time Kale had been trying to catch the monkey, Kale had moved from a painfully slow trek, to a moderate jog. Bubbles was no longer able to relax and casually walk a few steps ahead of Kale. He was matching his speed, and hooting in excitement.

 _Is this really the same kid?_

'Hey, uhh, Kale!' King Kai called out to him.

'Hi King Kai!' Kale said with a friendly wave, 'I'm starting to get the hang of it now, aren't I?'

King Kai crossed his arms. 'I thought I told you that you needed that weighted clothing to train here properly,' he admonished in a scathing tone.

Kale jogged over to him. 'But what do you mean King Kai?' the boy asked him, 'I'm still wearing the clothes.'

The King's eyes widened when he saw that Kale was right.

'You see,' Kale told him, jogging on the spot, 'shirt, gloves, the works.'

'I...um... ' King Kai began, 'It's just very unusual to see someone your age making such... alarmingly fast progress.'

Kale stopped jogging, puffed out his chest and said, 'I guess they just make them better back on Earth, huh King Kai?'

'Hmm,' he mused, walking around Kale and studying him.

'Kale, I think you're muscle mass has grown slightly since when you first arrived,' he told him.

'You really think so?' Kale asked excitedly, 'I must be getting stronger then!'

'And your hair...' King Kai went on, 'Did it always stick up like that?'

'Huh? What do you mean?' Kale asked, frowning.

He patted his head and his eyes widened as he felt the front of his hair sticking out.

'Woah, that sure is weird,' Kale said, walking over to the bird bath to look at his reflection, 'huh, can't say I don't like it though.

'Maybe it's just a sign that's my hair's getting stronger against this gravity too!' Kale told King Kai, turning back to face him.

'Don't be daft boy,' he replied, walking over to him, 'Kale, you said you were from Earth, right?'

Kale blinked and looked puzzled. 'Well, sure I did,' he said, resting his chin on one hand, 'but I thought you knew that Humans were from Earth anyway.'

'That's right,' King Kai said slowly, 'Kale, did you know there used to be another species that lived on the Earth briefly, known as the Saiyans?'

To his surprise, Kale laughed.

'I certainly did King Kai,' he told him with a smile, 'a friend of mine, a fellow soldier, is actually descendant from them, she's has both Human and Saiyan ancestors.'

'Did you also know that their species was known to be incredibly strong, and that they all shared a love for fighting?' King Kai went on.

Kale nodded. 'That sounds like Lan.'

King Kai tilted his head, examing Kale.

'Well you see Kale,' he told him, 'it's just that you remind me so much of a Saiyan yourself.'

Kale looked shocked. 'Really? I thought I was just strong.'

'That may be so... ' King Kai mused, walking around Kale again, 'Do you have any Saiyan heritage yourself?'

'Not that I know of,' Kale replied, scratching his head.

'Well hold on for a minute then,' King Kai said, coming to a stop in front of Kale, 'if I remember correctly, the Dragon Balls on Earth grant you two wishes. You didn't use one of those to make yourself stronger, did you?'

'Hey, no way King Kai. I mean, I was in a bit of a jam, so I did use one of the wishes to come here,' Kale said, putting one hand behind his head and looking sheepish, 'which, I guess, whether it helped out the fight for the planet, or not, would be debatable...

'But I swear,' Kale went on, holding his hands open in front of him, 'that my other wish had the planet's best interest at heart.'

'Oh?' King Kai said, his eyes narrowed, 'And what was that?'

'Aha!' Kale exclaimed, raising a finger into the air, 'I was waiting for you to ask.'

The youth shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to one side before continuing.

'It really was a stroke of genius on my part King Kai. You see, I got the idea from when my friend, Lan, you know, the one descended from the-'

'JUST GIVE ME THE SHORT VERSION!' King Kai snapped at him.

'Oh... uhh... right,' Kale said, taken aback, 'Okay, well, first I asked the dragon, Shenron, if he could bring any Saiyans in the galaxy to Earth, to help out in the fight.'

'Mm-hmm, I see,' King Kai said, nodding his head.

'But unfortunately he told me that they were all dead. Ahh! But then, and listen to this, I asked the dragon to make any humans on the Earth who were _descended_ from the Saiyans, to be made Saiyans in full.'

King Kai stared, too stunned to speak.

Kale put his hands on his hips, and puffed out his chest again. 'What do you think King Kai?' he asked smugly, 'Some pretty fast on the spot thinking on my part, wouldn't you agree?

'But hey,' he went on, 'you seem to know more about these Saiyans, what's your opinion? Do you think the new Saiyans back on Earth will be able to help?'

'Don't you see Kale?' King Kai asked, finding his voice, 'That explains it. You must be part Saiyan!'

Kale stared at him for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smirked. 'Come on King Kai, don't be silly,' he said, snorting derisively, 'I already told you that I didn't have any Saiyan ancestors.'

'No, what you said was that you weren't aware of any,' King Kai corrected him, 'this just proves my theory, your wish must have changed you! You are part Saiyan! Well, I suppose, a full blooded Saiyan now.'

Kale shrugged. 'I don't know King Kai,' he said doubtfully, 'I still reckon if I was descended from an alien warrior race, my parents would have told me.

'Not much chance of that now...' Kale added to himself.

'Well then, there's only one way to know for sure,' King Kai announced, folding his arms behind his back, 'drop you pants.'

Kale's brow shot up. 'Uhh, King Kai?' he asked, 'Are you trying to blow the rating out of the water?'

'NO, YOU IDIOT!' King Kai thundered.

He moved over to a small pile of tools lying next to the garden, and picked up a pair of secateurs.

'Okay, now turn around,' he told Kale.

'Umm, King Kai,' Kale said, backing away nervously, 'this just raises my earlier question again.'

'Just hold still...' King Kai said in an exasperated tone, moving behind Kale.

Kale could hear the sound of material being cut. 'Hey, what's going on back there?' he called over his shoulder.

'Just hang on... One minute...' King Kai replied, then in a triumphant tone he said, 'Bingo! I was right. Just take a look at that!'

King Kai stepped back and Kale ducked his head through his legs, trying to get at what King Kai had seen.

'Wait, what am I looking at?' he asked, not understanding.

King Kai sighed, and Kale felt something pulled out of the back of his pants, then twisted around, trying to see what it was.

Poking out of the hole King Kai had cut was a short, auburn-brown, furry monkey tail.

'GAAAH!' Kale exclaimed, 'What is _that_!'

'Well, what's it look like?' King Kai asked, 'It's a tail.'

'But why is it there?' Kale replied, turning on the spot, trying to get a better look at it.

'What, you mean you didn't know? All Saiyans have a tail.'

'Umm, no! No one ever told me that!' Kale said, standing still before he made himself sick.

King Kai clapped his hands together. 'Guess you do now,' he said happily, then he added, 'oh and that means I was right all along. You do have Saiyan ancestry.'

'Yeah, I guess,' Kale said uncertainly, 'so if my wish did change me, why am I growing a tail now?'

'Your wish must have changed you after Shenron granted it,' King Kai began, taking a closer look at the tail, 'so now your training here must be causing you tail to grow. If a Saiyan looses their tale it can grow back through rigorous physical training. Yours has only begun to grow, give it some time and when it's finished you'll feel stronger than ever!'

'This... This is a lot to take in...'

'Don't dwell on it too much, my boy,' King Kai with a smile, 'you might find that you feel differently about some things, but in a lot of ways this change will only serve to make you stronger! Saiyans make great fighters, so if you focus on your training in no time at all you'll be a valuable asset in the fight for the Earth.'

'Ahh, okay,' Kale said nervously, 'it's just I never imagined that the wish would affect me when I made it.'

Shrugging, King Kai said, 'Life's full of mystery boy, no one can say what will happen tomorrow. Even us Kais can't predict that. Now, if you're done chatting idly there's a monkey out there with your name on it!'

Kale looked thoughtful. As he walked away, King Kai heard him say, 'Who'd have thought that I, Kale, a kid from West City, would end up carrying the legacy of an extinct warrior race.'

Then, stopping suddenly on the spot, Kale exclaimed, 'Oh no!'

'What's wrong Kale?' King Kai called after him.

'I just realized,' Kale said frantically, pulling at his hair, 'if I'm a Saiyan, then that means my wish will have turned Jean into one as well!'

'Huh?' King Kai crossed his arms, 'Who's Jean?'

'Jean's my sister!'

'Oh, well in that case...' King Kai held up his hands and shrugged, 'I wouldn't worry about it too much. She wont be the only one that your wish has affected. Not a whole lot you can do here anyway.

'Well I guess,' Kale said slowly, 'I just wonder what her reaction will be when she finds out she's growing a tail!'

…

KORIN TOWER

'AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!'

Lan's head snapped up as a high pitched scream rang out from the next room over and echoed down the stone hallway.

She had been standing over the wash basin in her room, and water dripped off her face as she stood frozen.

Half a second later, Lan tore out of her room and sprinted barefoot down the hall to the source of the cry. Clad only in a singlet and her underwear, she felt very exposed without her sword.

Sliding to a stop outside the entrance to the room Kinwa and Jean were sharing, Lan tore the heavy curtain that served as the door aside to reveal the two occupants standing alone in the centre of the room.

Kinwa's eyes were wide with shock, and her hands were held pressed against her mouth. Across from her, Jean stood holding her shirt in one hand, and wearing a very confused look on her face. Neither of them were fully dressed yet.

Lan's eyes quickly jumped back and forward between the two several times before she asked, 'What's going on!'

'Jean, what is that?' Kinwa asked slowly, still covering her mouth.

Jean shot Lan an apprehensive look.

'What? What does she mean?' Lan asked her.

'I don't have a clue,' Jean said, holding up her hands, 'we were just getting dressed, and then, out of no where, she screamed!'

Lan shot Kinwa an expectant look, eyes brows raised.

'Jean, what is that thing!' Kinwa repeated, and when Jean rolled her eyes and turned around she yelled out, 'That! That thing! That thing hanging off of you!'

'What do you mean?' Jean asked trying to look around at what Kinwa meant.

Lan's eyes widened. Sticking up out of the back of Jean's briefs was the stub of a furry tail.

Pulling the curtain shut behind her, Lan moved to stand next to Jean. 'What on Earth?' she asked slowly.

Jean twisted around and reached down to touch her tail with a shaking hand. She shrieked loudly, making the other two girls jump.

'It moved!' she told them, 'I mean, I touched it and I could _feel_ my hand wrapped around it _._ Like, it had sensation. And then I felt it twitch. Or, I guess, I made it twitch.'

The sound of running footsteps drew the attention of the three of them away from the tail briefly. Lan quickly ran to hold the curtain closed, just as Nett grabbed it to pull it aside.

'What's going on in there? Are we under attack?' he called from the other side.

'Nothing, it's fine, don't worry about it,' Lan said, poking her head around the other side.

The Namek was standing just outside the doorway. Beside him were Corro, Reed and Peppe.

'Go on, go!' she added, waving her hand at them, 'Not allowed in here, girls getting dressed.'

Nett snorted, and followed the other three back down the hall. Turning back around to face the other two, Lan breathed a sigh of relief and tied her hair up in a loose ponytail.

'This is so weird,' Kinwa was saying.

She gave the tail a tug and Jean yelped, smacking her hand away.

'This, is weird,' Kinwa repeated, 'people don't just start growing a tail. The only kind of people, who aren't animal people, that I've ever heard of having a tail are...'

She trailed off, looking towards Lan.

Lan returned her look. A wide smile was forming on her face, and she could feel her chest swelling.

'Are Saiyans!' Lan finished for her.

'JEAN!' she cried, clasping the girl's hands in her own, 'You didn't tell me that you had Saiyan ancestry!'

Jean looked at Lan like she had gone mad. 'That I... what?' she stammered.

'Why didn't you say anything earlier?' Lan demanded, 'It should have been the first thing out of your mouth!'

'Wha... what?' Jean said, shaking her head, 'That I had what? Saiyans? What's a Saiyan!'

'Oh no,' Kinwa whined, as Lan make an excited noise.

'You mean that... You didn't know...' Lan began tremulously, 'You didn't know that the blood of a proud and ancient warrior race runs through your veins?'

'Umm...' Jean shot a glance at Kinwa, eyebrows raised, 'No...'

Lan released Jean's hands and jumped on the spot.

'But don't you see!' she told her excitedly, 'How could you _not_ know such a thing! This tail is clear proof of it! It must be your dormant Saiyan genes manifesting at last!'

Suddenly, Lan gasped deeply, standing still with her fists clenched. There was a loud smack as she twisted and landed on the stone floor, then began to contort her body in an attempt to look behind her.

'Umm, Lan?' Kinwa said.

'Are you okay?' Jean asked.

'That's it, I'm calling it now. She's finally cracked,' Kinwa announced, throwing her hands in the air.

Lan managed to manoeuvre herself into a position while, at one end, the side of her face was pressed against the floor, and, at the other extreme, she was wriggling her bottom in the air.

Straining her neck to hold up her body, Lan gained an upside down view between her legs. Jean and Kinwa came into her field of vision, both upside down and both looking at her hesitantly.

Lan shifted her underwear until suffering through the pain in her neck was rewarded, and a short tail fell out of her boxers and swung slowly, back and forward between her legs.

Screaming in delight, Lan swung her legs around and leapt into the air.

'Aahahahaha, yes, YES!' she cried, grabbing Kinwa's hands and swinging her around in a circle.

'My ancestors have recognised me as a worthy inheritor of their legacy!' Lan exclaimed excitedly.

She bent her knees and the room began to shake as Lan raised her power level.

'I am Lanthal!' she roared, 'Feel my power and despair!'

'Lan, cool it!' Kinwa yelled over the noise.

As the room became still she told Lan, 'Just because you're a weirdo with a tail now, it doesn't make you a Saiyan.'

'No Kinwa, this isn't just about having a tail,' Lan replied, grinning broadly, 'I've been feeling different the past couple of weeks, ever since we begun our training with Master Korin, and I think this is the cause of it!

'Jean, what do you think?' Lan said, rounding on the girl, 'How have you felt lately?'

'Well, I don't know anything about Saiyans, or whatever,' Jean said slowly, 'Not so long I had a bit of an episode, and since then I've been feeling... weird.'

'An episode, what do you mean?' Kinwa asked frowning.

Jean rubbed her neck. 'Look, it's not a big deal,' she said, shifting uncomfortably, 'the night before the others and I came here I had a seizure, but don't worry about it! It hasn't affected my ability to fight and I wont-'

'Woah, hold on,' Kinwa cut her off, 'you had a seizure the night before you came here?'

Kinwa looked at Lan, her eyebrows raised.

'So what?' Jean looked at the two of them, 'It's never happened before. It was just a once off.'

'That same night we were on a mission out in enemy territory to steal the Dragon Balls,' Kinwa told her, 'They were being held in an Intergalactic Army base, and it was our job to get in and get out safely with those balls.'

'Wait, Dragon Balls? What are they?' Jean asked, looking confused.

'Magic wish balls,' Kinwa said impatiently, 'you bring them together and a dragon appears and grants you any wish.

'Anyway,' she went on, ignoring Jean's sceptic expression, 'things didn't go as planned and we were jumped on the way out. One of our squad tried to escape with the Dragon Balls while we held the soldiers attention.'

'The thing is,' Lan said, picking up the thread of the story, 'we don't exactly know what happened next. We believe that he might have been forced to use the Dragon Balls because he couldn't escape in time.'

'Hang on,' Jean said, holding up a hand, 'what does this have to do with me?'

'Well,' Lan said, giving Kinwa an uncertain look, 'I had a seizure shortly after Kale, our other squad member's power level vanished. So now I'm thinking-'

'Did you just say Kale?' Jean asked, interrupting her.

'Yeah, that's right,' Lan replied, frowning.

Jean didn't answer. She was staring unfocused at a blank spot on the floor next to her feet, her mouth open slightly and her fingers twitching.

Kinwa shot Lan a glance before asking, 'Do you know Kale?'

'He's my brother,' Jean said in a small voice.

The other two woman exchanged surprised looks, then Lan said with a smile, 'Yeah, I see the resemblance. You two do seem to think alike, you both share the same determined mindset.'

'You said that Kale disappeared after he used these Dragon Balls?' Jean asked, looking up at them.

'Umm, well that's the thing,' Kinwa began awkwardly, 'one minute we could sense his power level fading, then the dragon appeared, and then suddenly we couldn't sense him at all.'

'We searched where we last sensed him,' Lan told her, trying to sound reassuring, 'but there was no sign of him at all.'

'I'm sure that, wherever he is, he's okay,' Kinwa said gently, 'Jean, do you have any idea of where he could be?'

Jean shook her head. 'No, I haven't seen him in about... three years,' she told them.

'I...' Jean trailed off, then suddenly her whole behaviour changed. She straightened up, her face set.

'Like I said, I have no idea where he is,' she said firmly, 'in fact, don't talk to me about him ever again.'

Lan opened her mouth but was too stunned to speak. Kinwa was silent beside her as well, a look of incredulity on her face.

Before they could say anything else, Jean grabbed the rest of her clothes and walked from the room.

'I need to to use the bathroom,' she said, not looking at them as she left.

'Wait, Jean,' Lan called after her, finding his voice.

She moved to go after her, but Kinwa grabbed her shoulder and held her back.

'How do you explain that?' she asked her friend, turning around to face her.

'I don't know,' Kinwa said, shaking her head, 'but you heard what she said; she hasn't seen Kale in three years. Maybe there's something between them. Maybe they had a falling out when they last saw each other.'

Lan folded her arms behind her head. 'Yeah, maybe,' she said slowly.

'In any case, hurry up and get dressed,' Kinwa told her, pushing Lan towards the door, 'Korin wont be happy we're taking this long.'

'Yeah, right,' Lan said with a smile, making her way back to her own room.

…

Kinwa met Lan on the steps on the steps leading up to the open area of Korin's Tower where he had been training them.

As they walked up the stairs together Lan said to her, 'We should ask Corro if he knows what happened between Kale and Jean. Not sure why she's been living with him in the first place. Kale said that he joined up after his family was killed. He never mentioned having a sister.'

'Jean told me that Corro and Reed saved her and Peppe during the attack on West City,' Kinwa replied, 'the Namekian village they came from offered to take them in, and they opted to stay, rather than go to a refugee camp.'

'I don't blame them.'

'In Jean's version of the story there was no mention of a sibling either.'

Lan pursed her lips and said, 'Definitely something going on.'

The her expression changed and she said happily, 'I've been thinking about what Jean and I having our tails could mean. I think that Kale _did_ use the Dragon Balls to make me more like my Saiyan ancestors.'

Kinwa rolled her eyes. 'That's pretty narcissistic Lan,' she told her friend, 'Kale wouldn't use a whole wish just to make you grow a tail.'

Lan shook her head. 'No, not just me,' she replied, 'I think that he wished for everyone who carried Saiyan DNA to take on more aspects of that part of their make up. That would explain why Jean is changing too.'

'But if Jean was affected by the wish,' Kinwa said, frowning, 'wouldn't Kale have been changed as well? I thought he didn't know anything about Saiyans until he met you.'

'That's right, he didn't.'

'Whaaat? So you're telling me that Kale made a wish to change all the Humans who carry Saiyan DNA, to be more like Saiyans, without knowing the wish would change him too?'

'Hey, it's possible,' Lan said, shrugging her shoulders, 'Jean had never heard of them either.'

'Wait, so you think that the fit both you and Jean had, was Kale's wish taking effect.'

'Exactly!'

As the climbed the last step to the top of the tower Kinwa said, 'Right, well, we'll get Nett up to speed, then see if we can have a private word with Corro at some stage.'

The pair walked towards Korin, who was standing with his back to them, watching the others spar in front of him. As they approached him, Jean came up the stairs behind them.

'Well, it's about time,' Korin said, turning around to face them, 'look, I know that girls take longer than guys to get ready in the morning, but this is ridiculous. What's the deal with taking so long?'

In answer, Lan turned around and waved her tail at him.

Korin was silent for a moment, then he said quietly, 'I'll never understand today's fashion.'

He turned back to face the other five and called out, 'Alright enough everybody. Since the girls are so late they've missed out on today's warm up, so all of you go have some breakfast and meet me back up here in an hour.'

…

After breakfast Kinwa managed to briefly catch Corro alone in the pantry. She asked him about what had happened between Jean and Kale, while Lan filled Nett in on her theory of her recent change.

Corro had been surprised to learn that Kale had served in the same squad as them.

When asked about the bad blood between the two siblings he said, 'I honestly couldn't tell you why he left. He just sort of abandoned her.'

'Abandoned her?' Kinwa said in a hushed whisper, crossing her arms, 'That doesn't sound like him.'

Corro shrugged. 'I didn't really know the kid,' he told her, 'Reed and I saved Kale, Jean and Peppe when West City was destroyed, then we took the three of them back to our village. The next night two soldiers from the Earth's Special Forces came by looking for refugees, Kale told them he wanted to fight, so they took him with them.'

Kinwa looked away from him, trying to make sense of the situation.

'I still sounds off. He's not the type to just take off like that,' she told him.

'Maybe he thought he had something to prove,' Corro replied, 'besides, he did leave you guys behind.'

'That's true,' Kinwa said, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, 'do you have any idea where he could have gone?'

The Namek shook his head. 'I'm sorry, I really have no idea,' he said with a touch of sadness, 'I can tell you for certain that he didn't come back to my village. On the first night they were with us he told us that everyone he knew had come from West City.

'All of his friends, his family,' Corro said with a heavy sigh, 'his whole life had been there one day, and gone the next. Everything taken, except Jean.'

'Except Jean...' Kinwa repeated.

'She might know where Kale is now,' Corro said hesitantly, 'it's just that, she hasn't even mentioned him to us in years. It seems like that scar hasn't faded yet.'

Kinwa rubbed the back of her neck and said in an exasperated tone, 'I just hope he's not dead.'

After a short pause Corro said quietly, 'Me too.'

Then he added, 'There's something else you should know. Peppe showed it to Reed and myself this morning. He's... growing a tail too.'

'What?' Kinwa asked, her eyes narrowed, 'What relation does he have to Kale and Jean?'

Corro shrugged. 'None whatsoever, he was a lost kid they happened to pick up in the chaos of the attack.'

Shaking her head Kinwa said, 'This just gets stranger and stranger. I wish Kale was here to answer some questions.'

'Where ever he is, I'm sure it's safe,' Corro said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, 'right now it's our job to train hard and prepare for what's ahead. Soon the people of Earth will need us to lend them our strength.'

'You're right,' Kinwa agreed, giving Corro a wan smile, 'we need to focus on what Korin can teach us here. I just hope that where ever Kale is, he's training hard and taking his role seriously. Soon we'll need his help.'

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

'Okay, today's the day that I catch that monkey,' Kale said cheerfully, pulling on his weighted shirt.

He ducked his head as he stepped outside the doorway of King Kai's house and called to Bubbles to get ready.

The monkey ran down the trunk of a tree and took off across the grass. Kale grinned, and tensed to start running after him.

Just as he was about to start sprinting, King Kai called out from behind him, 'Wait! Just a minute Kale!'

Standing frozen in an awkward position with one foot off the ground, Kale looked around as King Kai followed him outside.

'What is it King Kai? He's getting away!' Kale said, motioning after Bubbles.

King Kai looked at him with a smirk, and stroked his chin.

'Oh, it's just one small thing,' he told Kale.

His antennae snapped forward. There was a loud _pop_ and suddenly Kale's weighted clothes felt nearly as heavy as they originally had when he first put them on.

'Ouff, King Kai, what gives?' Kale asked, sagging under the renewed weight of his clothes.

'I think that you've been having too easy of a time lately, so I thought I'd make it a bit more challenging,' he replied, wagging his finger in Kale's face.

'What do you mean I've been taking it easy?' Kail replied through gritted teeth, 'I haven't even managed to catch the monkey yet!'

'Oh don't worry about it so much!' King Kai said, turning and walking over to a yellow banana lounge chair seated next to his garden.

As he lay back he added, 'With the rate you're improving those wont bother you at all in no time! Now get out there and chase my monkey around the planet some more.'

Kale blinked. 'The planet?' he asked.

King Kai looked over at him. 'Yes, the planet,' he said, 'you know, the place where you're standing.'

'Oh yeah,' Kale said, tapping his foot against the grass, 'I've been meaning to ask you about that. What's the deal with this place? It's like we're on a giant grassy ball.'

King Kai settled back in his chair again. 'Jump up and have a look,' he told Kale, waving his hand dismissively, 'it's my own little world.'

Kale crossed his arms and said, 'Huh.'

Bending at the knees, Kale jumped as hard as he could, pushing through the strain he felt from the weight of his clothes.

He shot up into the air, higher and higher, until King Kai appeared as small as his fingernail. From that height Kale could see that King Kai's home was it's very own little world. Around him as far as the eye could see there was only purple sky and yellow clouds.

 _Unreal. No one will ever believe me when I tell them about this place._

As Kale reached the peak of his jump, he immediately felt the gravity begin to pull him down again.

'Woah, WOAH!' he cried out, as he shot back towards the planet's surface.

He landed hard on the ground next to King Kai, his legs shaking.

Wincing, Kale slowly stood upright, rubbing the ache out of his throbbing limbs.

'So what'd think?' King Kai asked without looking at him.

'I don't know what to say,' Kale replied, scratching his head, 'except, just where the heck are we?'

'In Otherworld of course, you big dumb dumb.'

'What? The Otherworld?'

'That's what I said, didn't I? I already told you that the only people who visit me are almost always dead, or gods, so where else could we be but Otherworld?'

Kale crossed his arms and smiled. 'If you say so.'

King Kai grunted and said, 'Well I do. Now go on, there's a monkey out there with your name on it.'

'So there is...' Kale said slyly.

He spotted Bubbles peeking out from behind one of the bushes in King Kai's garden. When the monkey realised Kale had seen him, he shrieked, breaking out from hiding and running full pelt across the grass.

Kale laughed and began to jog slowly after him.

…

Kale's chest moved up and down. It's rhythm matched the movement his arms and legs made as he ran after Bubbles across the surface of King Kai's planet.

His tutor had been right. Kale's body had quickly adjusted to the new weight of his clothes and now he felt like he could move better than ever.

Behind him Kale could feel his tail moving from side to side as he took one long stride after another.

In the few days since King Kai had first revealed it's existence it had grown to well over a foot in length. King Kai had told him that it would grow longer still. Kale still wasn't used to having the extra appendage. He kept forgetting about it when he went to sit down, and would quickly jump up, wincing in pain as it was squished between the chair and his behind.

Still, getting used to having a tail was well worth the change Kale had been noticing in his growth rate.

'I'm coming for you Bubbles!' he called out to the monkey ahead of him.

Bubbles looked back over his shoulder and frowned at him, hooting defiantly.

King Kai had been right about Kale's physical development as well. His muscle mass _had_ grown in the week or so he'd been on his planet, albeit only slightly, given his age.

As Kale raced after Bubbles, a new sensation began to form in his chest. He had been running for several hours, but instead of feeling tired, his body felt suddenly lighter, and it felt like moving while under the planet's gravity took no effort at all.

Kale grinned, pushing his body harder. He closed the gap between Bubbles and him and reached out, straining to grab hold of him.

Bubbles looked round at him again, and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw much Kale had gained.

To the young Saiyan's disbelief, the monkey turned to face ahead again, and took off even faster away from Kale.

Kale gaped after him, shocked that he could move even faster than he had before.

 _He's got turbo mode! Alright, if that's the case, I can go a little more!_

Kale gritted his teeth, and dug into the new pool of energy he felt welled up inside of him.

Moving his arms and legs even faster, the gap between Bubbles and him narrowed. Kale's muscles were burning, but he felt stronger than ever. His tail felt like it was on fire as it whipped along behind him.

In front of him Kale could see that the strain was beginning to show on Bubbles. His forehead was wet with sweat as he ran on, changing direction to head towards King Kai's house.

King Kai was still lounging on his outdoor chair, hands resting on top of his stomach and a line of zinc cream down his nose.

Kale followed Bubbles' direction as he ran full pelt towards where King Kai was seated.

King Kai jolted awake as Bubbles jumped over him landing between him and his garden.

As Bubbles kept running in the direction of the garden King Kai called out, 'No wait, stop, stop, stop! Not that way!'

Bubbles ignored him and sprang forward, trying to get away from Kale by escaping over the garden.

King Kai gasped, holding the sides of his head as Bubbles tried to clear the garden in one leap. His fears were founded, as Bubbles began to pitch forward towards the bird bath, unable to have jumped far enough after so much running.

Just as the birds washing themselves in the bath looked up, as their imminent doom fell from the sky, Kale reached King Kai, and dived forward.

King Kai shrieked, and fell off his chair landing flat on his face, as Kale soared overhead. His arms enclosed around Bubbles middle, catching him and landing them both safely on the opposite of the garden.

Twisting as they hit the ground, the soft grass cushioned Kale's landing as he slid to a stop, a triumphant grin spreading across his face as he held Bubbles up above him.

The monkey cried out in alarm and wriggled in Kale's grip, trying to get away. But Kale laughed, and hugged him close as he lay on there on his back.

King Kai rubbed his nose where he had fallen, and gripped the banana lounge as he pulled himself up. He jumped as Kale leapt back over the garden, still holding Bubbles in his arms.

'I did it! King Kai, I did it! I caught the monkey!' Kale announced ecstatically.

'Yes I can see that,' King Kai grumbled, sitting down hard on his chair, 'congratulations. Lesson One; complete.'

'Sorry you got dragged into this King Kai,' Kale said, grinning from ear to ear, 'but hey, at least I saved your garden.'

He looked over at the bird bath where two traumatised looking birds were still sitting in the water.

'Humph,' King Kai said unsmiling, 'I suppose I should thank-you for that.'

'Aww lighten up King Kai,' Kale said, giving Bubbles a squeeze, 'so what's next on the agenda?'

King Kai stood up and brushed himself down. Wiping the zinc from his nose he said to Kale, 'Well the first the you have to is let Bubbles go before he suffocates.'

Kale looked down and saw that the monkey's face was turning blue in his arms. He quickly let go, and placed Bubbles on the ground. Bubbles slowly walked away on all fours, staggering slightly.

'He'll be okay,' King Kai reassured Kale, 'anyway, let's move on to Lesson Two.'

He walked away from the garden, arms crossed behind his back to stand in the middle of the open field. Kale eagerly followed behind.

'What we've spent the last week doing is conditioning your body to get used to the increased gravity,' he told Kale as they walked, 'the next step is to take that one level higher.

'Incidentally Kale,' King Kai, said, turning around to face him, 'how much has your tail grown?'

'My tail?' Kale asked.

He twisted around and was shocked to see that his tail had grown to be about two and a half feet long.

'Wow, that was fast,' he said, waving it back and forth.

King Kai nodded. 'Mm hmm, I thought as much,' he told Kale, 'try wrapping it around your waist.'

Kale curled his tail around his body and it wrapped in a perfect circle, stopping just short of where it started at the back.

'Oh man, this is going to make sitting down so much easier,' Kale said happily, 'I just hope it doesn't grow anymore.'

'Nope, it looks just about done,' King Kai said, taking a closer look at the tail, 'if it does grow it will be with the rest of your body as you get older. If you learn to use it, as you would your other limbs, I think you'll find it very useful in a fight.

'So,' he said, turning away from Kale, 'onto Lesson 2.'

King Kai inhaled deeply, then, cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled up into the sky, 'GREGORY!'

Taking his hands away from his ears, Kale asked, 'What? Gregory, was it? Who's Gregory?'

Before King Kai could answer, a small ball of light came speeding out of the clouds above, and made a bee line straight towards Kale.

Faster than he could react, the light rammed itself into Kale's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Kale bent over, gasping for air.

Zooming in a loop around him, the light came in low, then shot straight up, delivering Kale a devastating uppercut, knocking him off of his feet. Kale landed hard on his back, and as he lay there the small ball of light came and rested itself on his chest.

'W-what,' Kale stuttered, 'what is this?'

'Huh? What's the matter with you?' the light replied in a high pitched voice, 'You asked, didn't you?'

The light slowly faded and Kale could now see what had been the cause. A large, green cricket stood with it's hands on it's hips, and it's legs planted firmly apart on his chest.

'Kale, this is Gregory' King Kai told him.

'Hi,' Kale said with a smile, sitting up on his elbows, 'it's very nice to meet you.'

Gregory crossed his arms. 'You wont be laughing in a short while. King Kai's been taking it easy on you. The next part of your training is with me!'

Getting to his feet, Kale said, 'Oh, umm, sure then. So this time I have to catch you instead?'

Throwing back his head with a loud, 'Hah!', Gregory told him, 'You _wish_ that was all it was, but training with me is much more difficult than a simple game of catch the monkey. With that ridiculous tail you like a monkey yourself!'

'I don't know,' Kale replied, curling his tail around his waist, 'I think it kinda suits me.'

'Oh, well I guess you would think that,' Gregory said crossly, 'you know, watching you run after Bubbles seemed like a severe case of "monkey see, monkey do", to me.'

Behind Gregory, King Kai snorted and bent over double, trying to muffle his laughing in his hands.

'Not b-bad Gregory!' he spluttered. Then, seeing they were both staring at him, he quickly wiped his eyes and straightened up, regaining his composure.

King Kai cleared his throat. 'Now, you're half right Kale,' he told the young Saiyan, 'for the next part of your training you will need to use _this_ -'

King Kai held up his arm. There was a small pop, then in a puff of smoke a metal mallet with an enormously over-sized head appeared in his hand.

'-to hit Gregory over the head with.'

'But King Kai!' Kale said in disbelief, 'That's too dangerous!

'I could really- oww!' Kale broke off as Gregory collided with the side of his head.

'Humph! You seem pretty sure of yourself!' Gregory told Kale, flying up close to his face.

As Kale rubbed the side of his head, Gregory said, 'You just worry about yourself for a start.'

'Here Kale. Catch this!' King Kale called out with a chuckle.

Kale looked over at him, as he casually tossed the mallet over.

Catching it with one hand, Kale's eyes widened at it's weight. His arm was jerked downwards as the gravity held the mallet down.

'What the... King Kai! This thing feels like it weighs at least ten tons!'

'Well if it's too much trouble, maybe you should just go home,' Gregory said smugly.

Kale's eyes narrowed. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and wrapped both hands around the mallet's shaft. Straining against the mallet's weight Kale managed to lift it into the air.

'Oh no, not on your life!' He told Gregory through gritted teeth, hefting the mallet over one shoulder, 'I'm no where near ready to go ho-o- woah!'

Kale back peddled furiously, as the mallet's weight began to tip him over backwards. It slipped over his shoulder and landed with a crash that shook the ground.

As Gregory shook with laugher, King Kai called out, 'Use your tail Kale!'

'My tail?' Kale asked, looking down at it.

'Yes, my boy. Use it to balance yourself against the weight of the hammer!'

Bending his knees slightly, Kale uncurled his tail and held it out steady behind him. A feeling of absolute physical equilibrium settled over him, and he laughed aloud at his new-found sense of balance.

'Alright!' he roared at Gregory, 'Get ready!'

Grabbing the mallet again with both hands, Kale lifted it up off the ground, and swung it forward at Gregory.

He missed by a clear foot, and the force of his swing lifted him off his feet as the mallet flew through the air and landed in front of King Kai, just missing his toes and sinking several inches into the dirt.

'Oh, heh, sorry about that King Kai,' Kale said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

King Kai stood frozen. His mouth opened his mouth slightly and he made a noise that sounded like a mouse being stepped on.

'Hey!' Gregory called after Kale, 'You watch what you're doing!'

Pulling the mallet out of the ground, Kale said cheerfully, 'Okay, here I go. For real this time.'

'That's more like it!' Gregory cried, as a field of light surrounded him again.

Finding his voice, King Kai yelled out as he sprinted back to his house, 'Run for your life Bubbles! Take cover, quick!'

He ran inside and slammed the door behind him. Bubbles was only a second behind as he swung himself in through a window after his master.

…

KORIN TOWER

Nett stood at the edge of the open area at the top of Korin Tower. The sun was slowly rising above the horizon, casting the sky around him in a brilliant shade of orange. In the centre of the tower Corro was meditating. He sat cross legged hovering several feet in the air.

Peppe and Reed flew around the outside of the tower racing each other, coming together every minute or so in a flurry of blurred fists.

However, it wasn't the sight of the sky before him, or the two children sparring, that held Nett's attention.

His arms were crossed and his eyes were tightly closed as he focused on what he could feel below. Somewhere far away Nett could sense a battle was being fought. The power levels were faint, and he didn't recognise any of them, but he could feel them all quickly rising and falling as the battle raged on.

He was so focused on the distant skirmish that it wasn't until she was standing right beside him, that Nett noticed Kinwa's presence.

'You can sense it too, can't you?' he asked Kinwa, opening his eyes.

Kinwa's fists clenched. 'Yes, I can feel it,' she told him, 'somebody, somewhere, is fighting a battle.'

'And we should be there to help,' Nett said, gritting his teeth.

He turned around as he heard Korin and the others coming up the stairs. Nett's lip curled as the group came to the top and moved to the centre of the room.

Every day for the past two months since they had arrived at the tower, Korin had been putting them through their paces. He'd tested their knowledge of both martial arts and ki control.

He'd put them through trials to test their endurance, such as flying around the tower in the thin air, and standing balanced on their hands for extended periods of time.

Often he would match up the fighters without any consideration of their age or experience. Korin had said that you never have the luxury of choosing your opponents, so it was worth fighting as many different people as possible.

It was clear that Korin was a master at the martial arts, but recently Nett had become frustrated at how Korin hadn't actually taught them anything new.

As he and Kinwa approached the others, his anger boiled over.

Korin was speaking with Lan, Jean and Bobo. Corro slowly lowered himself, then uncrossed his legs and straightened up as Peppe and Reed landed beside him.

'Hey!' Nett yelled out as he walked over.

Kinwa glanced at him nervously. She knew him well enough to know when he was angry.

Korin broke off speaking, and looked around.

'Morning,' he said casually, 'what's up?'

Nett's eyes widened. 'What's up? What's _up_!' he said, moving to stand over Korin.

'I'll tell you what's up,' Nett continued, '"What's up?" is that I'm fed up with your, so called, training! You have us up here every day running circles like we're a bunch of school kids! I want to know when you plan to start taking this seriously, and start teaching us some new techniques!'

The others had stood silently while Nett had been shouting. The two youngest boys' eyes were as round as saucers.

Korin didn't reply at first, but his tail swished quickly from left to right along the stone floor. When he did answer his voice was calm and without emotion.

'I've been talking this seriously the whole time,' he said flatly, 'it's you guys who are the ones that lack discipline.'

'Wha-what!' Nett spluttered, 'Discipline! Are you kidding me? We were in the army for goodness sake!'

Korin waved a paw. 'No, no, that's not what I meant. I mean that you need to learn to control your strength, and focus your power. Right now you burn through your energy too quickly, and your power is unwieldy, like a heavy sword without a grip.

'You got talent, no doubt about that,' Korin said, pointing his finger at Nett, 'but raw talent only gets you so far. Like I said; discipline.'

Nett wasn't convinced. 'I don't believe you,' he told Korin, 'we make up the strongest unit in the Earth's Special Forces. How could we have come that far if we aren't good at what we do?'

'If you're so great,' Korin asked, cocking his head to one side, 'then how come the Earth hasn't won yet, and there are still Intergalactic Army soldiers on the planet?'

Before Nett could retort, Korin added, 'And if you think you're so strong, then let's see you hit me with your strongest attack.'

Nett's eyes widened in shock, and around him several of the other fighters gasped.

'You're not serious,' he told Korin.

'Of course I'm serious,' Korin replied, handing his staff to Jean, then moving back to stand in front of Nett.

'Go on and hit me with everything you got,' he told him.

Nett sneered, and said, 'Fine then. It's your funeral.'

He brought his hands in by his sides, and began charging two balls of purple energy in them.

'Yeah, well, we'll just see what happens first,' Korin called out over the hum as Nett charged his attack. The rest of the squad quickly moved to a safe distance.

'Last chance!' Nett roared.

When Korin didn't move he yelled, 'Have it your way!

'PURPLE DEATH FLASH!'

Bending his knees he thrust he arms forward firing an enormous energy wave at Korin. The blast hit him dead on and kept on pushing outward towards the other end of the room, spilling over the balcony into the sky.

Nett stood with one hand resting on his knee, breathing heavily. A huge cloud of smoke and dust swirled around where Korin had been standing.

When nothing moved in the cloud Nett stood straight, rubbing his wrist with one hand.

'Serves you right,' he said with a smirk.

From the edge of the room Reed stepped forward, pointed at Nett, and yelled 'Oh my god, he killed Korin!'

'You bastard!' Peppe cried.

'Calm down! I'm not dead,' Korin called out from within the smoke cloud.

As the dust began to clear, Nett gaped in disbelief. Korin stood in the centre of the area where his blast had blackened the floor, unharmed and untouched except for a small wisp of flame on the end of one of his whiskers.

'That's just about as much as I expected,' Korin said casually, brushing dirt off his fur, 'though what can you expect from an attack called the "Purple Death Flash", heh!'

Nett's knees gave out, and he fell forward onto his hands, too dumbfounded to speak.

He looked up as Korin moved to stand in front of him. 'I'm sorry master,' he said quietly, 'I was rash and a fool. I was wrong to question your teachings.'

'Don't worry about it,' Korin told him, 'I know being stuck up here is frustrating, and you'd rather be down there helping the people of this planet. But you do them no favours by leaving before you're ready.

'If you go and get yourself into trouble, or worse, you wont be any help to them anyway,' Korin continued, moving to rest one of his paws on Nett's shoulder, 'it's a crap situation, no doubt. However, if you stay you can work hard to become the soldier they truly need. As you've just seen, fighting isn't about throwing the heaviest boulder at the castle walls. It's about throwing that pebble hard enough to make them crack.'

'Of course master, you're right,' Nett said, getting to his feet, 'from now on I promise to follow your instructions to the letter.'

Korin nodded, satisfied. He took his staff back from Jean and called out to the rest of them, 'The same goes for the rest of you guys! Now enough standing around, let's get back to work!'

As Korin told them what he had planned for the day, Nett could still faintly sense the battle going on below. He clenched his jaw hard and focused on what Korin was saying.

 _Soon. Some day soon we will be strong enough. We'll return strong enough to take back our planet, and put an end to the fighting, once and for all!_

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

Another crash shook the planet as Kale swung the massive mallet at Gregory.

Kale quickly heaved it up again as Gregory zoomed over his head.

'You're not getting away that easily!' he yelled after the cricket.

'Ha!' Gregory called back over his shoulder, 'Like you'll ever be able to catch me!'

The mallet balanced on his shoulder, Kale sprinted after him. It had taken him a while, but eventually Kale had become used to the tool's weight.

It still weighed him down, but now Kale could swing it quick enough to have a chance to hit Gregory. The problem was catching him.

Whenever Kale had caught up to Gregory, it became quickly apparent that the cricket was far too nimble for Kale to blindly swing at.

As Kale ran, an idea began to form in his mind.

 _If I want to catch Gregory, I can't just be fast. I need to be smart_ AND _fast._

He slowed to a stop, and watched as Gregory sped away, disappearing over the curvature of the planet. Grinning, Kale turned around and began to run in the opposite direction.

Gregory flew fast and low over the grass. He stared ahead, focusing on flying straight.

Chancing a glance behind him, he called out to Kale, 'Hey, don't tell me you're giving up that easily kid!'

When Kale didn't reply, he flipped over and continued to fly along, going backwards instead. There was no sign of the young Saiyan behind him.

'Umm, Kale?' He called out.

The sound of heavy footsteps moving quickly came from behind him, and Gregory turned around to find Kale right in front of him, having ran the other way around the planet.

Kale leapt up, a fierce grin running across his face and triumph in his eyes.

 _I've got him!_

Gregory's eyes widened in surprise as Kale swung the mallet behind him. Before he could swing it around to hit him, Gregory came to a screeching halt just inches from Kale's chest, and quickly moved around his body to take off at full speed past him.

As Gregory dodged around him, Kale released his grip on the mallet's handle and let it slip towards the ground. Gregory turned to watch it fall, and as he did, Kale's tail wrapped itself around the handle.

Moving his whole body into the swing, Kale twisted and swung the mallet with his tail. It collided mid-air with Gregory and sent him spinning out into the clouds.

The mallet landed with a heavy thud on the ground, and Kale sat down beside it, breathing heavily.

'Woah!' King Kai called to him, leaning out of a window, 'I saw that, that one had to be a six!'

As King Kai unlocked his door and came back outside, Kale strutted confidently over to him.

'So, what do you reckon, King Kai?' Kale asked, coming to a stop in front of him and putting his hands on his hips, 'Lesson Two; complete?'

'Not so fast!' came a voice from above their heads.

They looked up. Gregory was slowly zigzagging towards them.

'That kid... that kid never hit me,' he said thickly, 'when I saw the mallet coming I braced against it, then used the momentum to spring forward!'

Kale's eyes narrowed at him. 'Is that so?

'Because that lump on your head says otherwise,' he said, pointing to it.

Gregory opened his mouth to speak, but instead his eyes closed and he dropped to the ground. He landed on the soft grass, completely out cold.

Kale turned back to King Kai grinning. 'Well?' he asked.

'Lesson Two; complete,' King Kai echoed, 'now we move on to the next part of your training, and this is where it gets serious.'

As Kale jumped into the air, whooping joyfully, King Kai stroked his chin and looked thoughtful.

'So what's first?' Kale asked him excitedly.

'Well, I'm having a thought Kale,' he told him, 'I think what we need for you is a sparring partner.'

Kale looked puzzled. 'But I thought you were going to teach me, King Kai?'

'Oh don't worry, I will,' King Kai replied, crossing his arms behind his back, 'I believe that we could get the most out of your training if you had someone to compete against. Somebody who could share your competitive drive.'

'I guess so...' Kale said with a shrug.

'It's a shame you came here alone,' King Kai continued, 'we'll just have to find someone else...'

He snapped his fingers. 'And I know just who to ask,' he told Kale happily.

King Kai stood with his legs together, and his antennae snapped forward. He stood rigid, and stared hard at a spot on the ground.

Kale tried to follow what he was looking at, confused about what his instructor was doing. He moved to stand next to King Kai, but couldn't make what his eyes were following.

'Umm, King Kai? Whatcha doing?' he asked.

King Kai didn't respond, standing just as still as ever. Kale was not comprehending situation.

'King Kai, are you alright?' Kale said, peering closely at his face.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of King Kai's face, and his mouth was set in a thin line.

'Hey King Kai-' Kale began again.

Rounding on him, King Kai roared, 'I'M ON A CALL, YOU IDIOT! SHUT UP!'

Kale recoiled in alarm, and King Kai turned away from him and said, 'Sorry about that, yeah I'm still here.'

After a minute of silence, King Kai straightened up and said to Kale, 'Alright, that's that sorted. He should be here momentarily.'

He turned back to face Kale and was alarmed to him standing a short distance away, an apprehensive look on his face.

'What are you doing over there, boy?' King Kai called out and waved him back over.

With a small smile, Kale walked over and asked, 'So who did you say is coming here?'

Before King Kai could answer, there was a small _whoosh_ of air, and then out of no where a man appeared, standing beside them.

Kale stared at him. The stranger was a few inches taller than he was, with jet black hair that stuck up on odd angles. A white halo hovered above his head.

He was dressed in a pair loose fitting orange pants, and he wore a long, vest like shirt in a matching colour, with a blue sash tied around around his middle and fastened at the side to hold his shirt closed. On each wrist he wore a blue wristband, and on his feet he wore blue boots with yellow trim that ended in a blunt point.

Wrapped snugly around his waist was a brown tail, just like Kale's.

The lines of age on his face were few, and they lifted easily when he flashed them a friendly smile. Despite his age, his arms were still thick and corded with muscles. His eyes were wide and round with just a hint of innocence.

'Hi!' the stranger greeted them cheerfully with a wave.

'Kale,' King Kai said with a smile, 'this is Goku.'

'Hey Kale,' Goku said, a broad grin on his face, 'good to meet you!'

Kale felt a smile forming on his own face. Something about the strange man before him gave him a giddy feeling in his stomach, as if he was about to laugh. His smile was warm and welcoming, and there was something oddly familiar about him too.

'You too, Goku,' he said, shaking his hand.

'Goku has agreed to help train you during your stay here,' King Kai told him, 'I think you'll find him quite the interesting man to learn from. You see, Goku is in fact a Saiyan'

'And Goku,' King Kai said, turning towards him, 'You'll be interested to learn that Kale is like you; a Saiyan.'

'Wow, really?' Goku asked, his hands on his hips, 'Now that sure is something.'

Then, scratching his forehead, Goku asked, 'Say Kale, do you happen to have a tail by any chance?'

'Sure do,' Kale replied, turning side on to show him.

Goku smiled again, except this time Kale could tell it was a different kind. This one was somewhat playful, even daring.

'Alright, let's just see what you can do!' he told Kale as he settled into his fighting stance.

Surprised that they were starting so soon, Kale mimicked him and took up his own.

Goku blinked and cried, 'Here I come!'

He rushed at Kale, who saw through the obvious feint. Goku disappeared before he reached him, and Kale swung his fist around behind him at Goku's head as he reappeared. Instead of blocking the punch, Goku simply reached out and grabbed Kale's tail.

Kale gasped as his body seized up. He let out a strangled whine as he fell to his knees, and collapsed face down on the grass.

'I was afraid of this,' Goku said above him.

He released Kale's tail, and Kale began gasping for air, pushing himself up onto his hands.

'As you can see, we've got a lot of work to do,' King Kai said, walking over to stand beside Goku.

'Yep,' Goku replied, 'and that little problem will be the first place we start.

'Don't worry about it Kale,' Goku told him, as Kale unsteadily got to his feet, 'we'll have that tail conditioned in no time!'

'You know, I came here looking for the greatest martial arts teacher of all time,' Kale said weakly, 'it would be nice to learn some actual martial arts.'

Goku put one hand behind his head and laughed loudly.

'King Kai does have an unusual way of training fighters,' he told Kale, 'however learning the basics is just as important as learning to fight. You wouldn't believe the things my master had me do when I first starting to learn from him.'

King Kai clapped his hands together and said, 'It's settled then. If Goku's happy to stay, then we can both teach you as much as we know.'

Goku grinned, and began to stretch out his limbs.

'Kale, this is going to be great!' he told him as he limbered up, 'we'll cover everything from building up your strength and endurance, to refining your balance. I'll help you learn some different fighting styles to help mix it up, and maybe even some weapon training to make it a but more fun. Not to mention the powerful techniques we can teach you. Maybe King Kai can even teach you how to use the Kaio-Ken! Oh whoops, sorry King Kai! I didn't give anything away, did I? Anyway there may also be time for-'

As Kale stood on a strange planet listening to an even stranger man talk about whether or not to start from the ground up, or build on what Kale had already learned, for the first time in a long time, his mind thought back to the home he had once had in West City.

Kale had often thought back on the memories when his world had been ripped apart, and his family's lives had been snuffed out. He could remember these as clearly as if they had only happened the day before. But over the years since he and Jean had fled West City, he'd forgotten what if felt like to feel at home.

He'd forgotten what it felt like to be somewhere safe. A place where you knew you were wanted.

Standing before Goku now, Kale felt that sense coming back to him now. His fingers and toes tingled. It was if this man that he had only just met, gave off an aura that made people feel safe and happy. It was feeling that Kale remembered from what felt like a lifetime ago, when he had lived happily with his mother and father. When he and Jean attended school like normal children. And where any dangers that stalked the land seemed far away. For Kale, it was a happy feeling.

It felt like home.

…

KORIN TOWER – SEVEN MONTHS LATER

Corro sat with his legs crossed, resting his hands on his knees and slowly breathed in through his nose. His shirt lay folded on the the ground beside him. His chest moved up and down, in rhythm with his steady breathing.

Across from him sitting in a similar fashion, was Nett. For the past several months the two Nameks had began to meditate together. They got up each morning before everyone else, and would sit together in silence, as the sun slowly rose on another day.

Given his profession, Nett had explained that he had few opportunities to socialise with other Nameks. They made up only a small percentage of the Earth's Special Forces members, and most of the ones he spoke to when he had the chance would be too awed by his reputation to hold a decent conversation.

Eager to spend time with another two members of his species, Nett had wanted to get off on the right foot with Reed and his brother. Corro had only been too happy to oblige. Meditating together was only the most recent activity they spent together.

Despite the difference of several years in their ages, with Corro only just on the cusp of adulthood, the two found that their personalities melded well .

Corro was keen to learn about how the rest of their race had been faring on the planet, and Nett, pleased that he had found a rapt audience, regaled him with many stories of where his missions had taken him.

Although his skill with ki control had been apparent from an early age, Corro had harboured no more secret desire for adventure than the next boy his age might have. As he grew older this desire dwindled as more practical things in life became important. However as he, Reed, Jean and Peppe listened to the tales told by Nett and the others, it awoke the same lust for adventure he'd felt many years ago. Being here with them, and learning from Korin, had made him slowly begin to think that his life might end up being an adventure after all.

Presently, as the world lay stretched out below them, Corro began to let his mind drift and cast out his senses to what he could feel around him.

At the base of the tower he could sense the presence of the people who lived there, and somewhat of their emotions. For the moment, they flickered softly against his mind's eye, quiet in the early morning.

Broadening the scope of his mind, Corro looked out further. Distantly he could feel where others were at the time. Some he had to strain to even detect it's existence, let alone their location. Others shone brilliantly and stood out from the rest. Whenever he felt one of these, a shiver came over him, as Corro had no way of telling if the strong power he felt belonged to a friend or foe.

There was something unusual about this morning. As his mind began to wander, he became almost immediately aware of the location of several large power levels. It was not uncommon for one of the residents of Korin Tower to detect the location of a skirmish happening somewhere below them. However what drew Corro's attention, was the number of people he was sensing.

Most of the battles they felt were only ever fought between several dozen fighters at most. Nett had explained that the Earth's Special Forces could not afford to fight all out battles, and that they stuck to the guerilla skirmishes that they could feel below.

This fight on the other hand, was being fought between over one hundred members. Corro frowned and tried to focus his mental probe at the location where he could sense the fight happening.

It was definitely strange to be sensing so many soldiers in the one location. Unless one of the two different sides was hitting a fortified position held by the other, it was highly unlikely that it was a battle being fought between the Earth's Special Forces and the Intergalactic Army.

'Can you feel that?'

Nett had spoken up, and Corro jolted, his concentration wavering. He opened his eyes and saw that the other Namek still had his shut tight, his brow furrowed in focused determination.

'Yes,' Corro replied, closing his eyes once more and casting his mind back to the fight, 'I can feel it. I was just trying to work out who is fighting against who.'

The two Nameks focused their attention on where the energy was coming from, trying to discern it's source.

'I can tell you this much,' Nett said slowly, 'it's not a battle between the ESF and the IA.'

'That's what I was thinking,' Corro told him, 'it's strange, some of the people I can sense feel almost familiar...'

'It wouldn't be a human settlement, what with that many ki users. Almost all of the ki sensitive humans are in the army. It could be the New Turtle School, or maybe the New Crane School, but the IA would be mad to attack a location like one of those...'

'I was thinking it could be a fortified base being assaulted.'

'That's a possibility as well, but if it were true there would be a good chance that at least one of the commanding officers would be present. I don't recognise any of the powers as one of theirs'. In my mind, the only possible explanation is that the IA is attacking a Namekian Village.'

A cold feeling crept over Corro's limbs, and his stomach felt suddenly hollow. When he opened his eyes, Nett was watching him, a reserved expression on his face.

Breathing quickly, Corro tried to concentrate on the source of the energy, trying to focus enough to pinpoint the location. He couldn't tell for sure, but he could be certain that the battle was being fought west of Korin Tower.

The energy was coming from the same direction as his village.

He screwed his eyes tightly shut, trying to recognise any of the people he was sensing. As his probe sharpened, his breath caught in throat as he realised many of the power levels belonged to members of his village.

Corro opened his eyes, still breathing fast, and quickly grabbed his shirt and stood up.

Nett was only a second behind him, and as Corro pulled on his shirt he asked him, 'What is it? Was I right? Are our people under attack?'

'Yes,' Corro replied, 'It's my village. They're under attack and they need my help.'

He slipped his coat on over his shirt and quickly walked towards the edge of the tower. Before he could take flight, Nett moved to stand in front of him.

'Hold on, you can't just take off on your own!' he told Corro.

Corro shook his head. 'I'm sorry Nett, but I have to go.'

Nett didn't budge. 'You can't leave now, you'd be throwing away everything you've strived to achieve here.'

'You don't understand!' Corro said desperately, 'Most of my village is made up of old men, far too old to fight. The others have never been in a real battle. They'll need me to even stand a chance!'

'If you go now, on your own, you'll share their fate,' Nett said gravely.

Before Corro could reply, he added, 'So let me help you.'

Corro was shocked. 'I can't ask you to come with me,' he told Nett.

The older Namek put his hand on Corro's shoulder and said gently, 'And there's nothing you could say to convince me not to.'

'Nett, I... I don't know what to say,' Corro replied, overwhelmed by his friends resolve.

'You don't need to say anything,' Nett told him, 'in the last nine months since I've gotten to know all of you, I've learnt the strength of your character, and the strength of your steadfast personality.

'If we survive this day, I want you, Corro,' Nett said, taking his hand from Corro's shoulder and jabbing him in the chest, 'to fight beside me as a member of the Z Squad. You and the others are exactly the kind of people the Earth's Special Forces needs to help win this fight.'

Nett stood back, and crossed his arms. His face was set as he said, 'So it would be remiss of us to turn our backs on you and your family in your hour of need.'

Corro was speechless in the wake of Nett's decision. He didn't know which part to address first.

'What now?' he managed to choke out.

'Right now,' Nett replied, 'we need to ask the others for their help.'

He turned and quickly walked down the stairs that led to the interior of the tower. Corro hurried to keep up with his brisk strides.

They moved together towards the small mess hall where the rest of the group was sitting down to breakfast with each other. The loud talk that filled the room quickly died away when Nett and Corro entered. It was plain from the expression they shared on their faces that something had happened.

'What's going on guys?' Reed asked them.

'We're leaving,' Nett looked at Reed when he spoke, but he addressed the room, 'Corro and I have sensed that your village is under attack.'

Jean was already out of her seat and moving to stand beside them before Nett had finished speaking.

'I'm coming too,' she said, giving Corro a small smile.

Lan dropped the dropped the chicken bone she had been eating and began to slovenly suck the grease off her fingers.

'When, do we, leave?' she asked between fingers.

'Immediately,' Nett replied.

'Right,' Lan said getting up, 'just give me a minute to grab my sword.'

Corro looked anxiously over at Korin. Their master had remained silent through Nett's announcement. He sat still in his seat, slowly chewing on a kipper.

'Master,' Nett began, 'I know this is just what you warned me against, but I feel this is something we have to do. Corro's people need us.'

All eyes in the room were focused on Korin. Even Yajirobe had looked up from his bowl, his attention held on what Korin would say.

Korin finished chewing the kipper and swallowed loudly.

He tapped the fingers of one paw against the table before shrugging and saying, 'Well, I suppose you guys are ready. Just don't ruin all my hard work by dying out there.'

Nett breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the group cheered.

Standing, Kinwa slapped a hand onto the shoulder of Bobo, who was sitting beside her.

'Come on Bobo, we've been idle for too long,' she told him.

As he looked at her with his round eyes, not understanding what she meant, Kinwa added, 'Let's go blow something up!'

The enormous Maijin stood up quickly, his belly sending the table sliding back. He clapped his hands together and said loudly, 'Aahahaha! Yes, yes! Bobo wants to blow a bad guy up!'

Reed jumped up, and as Peppe climbed onto his shoulders he said, 'Let's go home Peppe! We gotta go help the elders out!'

'Alright, onward!' Peppe declared, and Reed ran out of the doorway and up the stairs with the young Saiyan on his shoulders.

The rest of the group quickly followed them.

…

Up at the top of the tower they met Lan. The warrior was already wearing her coat and sword. Around the tower the two youngest boys flew in wide circles.

'Alright everyone gather round!' Nett shouted at them.

As Peppe and Reed landed, the group circled around into a huddle to what Nett had to say.

'Okay, listen up,' he told them, 'we don't have a clear idea of what's happening on the ground. We estimate there's at least a dozen Intergalactic Army soldiers attacking the village, but there could easily be more. We may be able to get a clearer idea as we get closer, we'll just have to see.

'When we get there this is what I want each of you to be doing,' he went on, pointing to each of them in turn, 'Reed and Peppe, I want you two to focus on the survivors. Get as many as you can together and get them away. Corro, I want you to go with them and deal with any that are too injured to walk. Don't worry about healing them if the injury isn't life-threatening, conserve your strength. Jean, I want you to be watching over them the whole time. Stop anyone who comes after them or the villagers dead in their tracks. The rest of us will deal with the soldiers.

'I don't want to hear it-' Nett cut Jean off as she opened her mouth to protest, '-we're the ones with combat experience. We've been in situations just like this before. We know what it's like to be on the ground with no intel or briefing, it's unpredictable. So leave the heavy lifting to us.'

Nett looked around the circle. There were no smiles now, and even Peppe and Reed looked pale.

'Everybody clear on their jobs?' he asked, and when they all nodded he yelled, 'Then let's move out!'

As the rest of the fighters jumped off the tower and began to head in the direction where the battle was being fought, Nett stopped for a moment and looked back.

Korin and Yajirobe stood in the centre of the circular room, silhouetted against the red sunrise behind them. As Nett watched, Korin lifted one paw and waved.

Nett ducked his head to hide his laughter, and quickly took flight after the rest of the group. For one gloriously insane and normal moment in his so very abnormal life, his imagination had compared Korin to a beckoning money cat.

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

Kale closed his eyes, and slowly breathed out. He bent his knees, and brought his arms out straight in front of him. His wrists were pressed together, and his finger spread wide, curling his fingers slightly.

At his side, Goku nodded in approval. 'That's it Kale, exactly like we practised,' he told the young Saiyan, 'now feel the energy from all over your body begin to slowly flow down through your arms, and into your hands.

'Now focus that energy!' Goku continued, walking around Kale, 'Focus it, compress it! When you release your energy in such a concentrated amount, your attack will be much deadlier.'

Letting his arms fall to his sides, Kale slowing breathed in and out, letting the energy he'd gathered in his hands spread back to the rest of his body.

Goku crossed his arms and raised a finger at him. 'Just remember,' he told Kale, 'that you have to be careful of just how much energy you put into that blast. Too much, and you could find yourself with nothing left over. Plus if you really amp it up you could run the risk of destroying the planet! Just make sure that you always focus, even in the heat of battle, because if you don't-'

'I know, I know, Goku,' Kale interrupted, opening his eyes, 'I know to watch it, I've heard it a thousand times.'

Goku chuckled. 'Well, one thousand and one never hurt anyone!' he told him.

'Okay, what next?' Goku asked himself, 'Maybe some swordplay? Although I am keen to see if you can break a piece katchin with your bare hand yet!'

Ignoring Goku, Kale called out, 'Hey King Kai, you alright?'

Goku turned around to see what Kale meant, and they both stared at King Kai who was standing unmoving a short distance away. His antennae faced forward and he either didn't hear Kale, or didn't care to answer.

Recently he had been focusing less and less on Kale's training, and had taken more to standing alone, his attention fixed on events happening far away in another part of the galaxy. Whenever they asked him if there was anything going on he would always laugh, and tell them not to worry about it.

Today however, when they approached him he turned around to face them, his expression grave.

'You look like something's eating you King Kai,' Goku told him, 'is something up?'

King Kai looked between the two of them and sighed.

At length, he didn't speak, but eventually he took a deep breath and said, 'I have something difficult to tell you. On one hand, it will mean the end of Kale's training. On the other, there is a battle being fought down on Earth that I believe Kale's presence will be essential for if victory is to be achieved.'

Kale's mind began to race. In the time he'd spent on King Kai's planet he knew that the war was still going on, and that by being here he would not be able to help the Earth's Special Forces if they needed it. He'd managed to push it to the back of his mind, and King Kai never brought up the subject of any battles he sensed happening back on Earth.

Until now.

Kale quietened his thoughts, and asked 'Is it serious?'

'Yes, I'm afraid it is,' King Kai said with a nod, 'it seems that the other members of your squad are on their way to defend the village where your sister and friends live.'

'WHAT?' Kale thundered, 'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER! THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO QUESTION OF ME GOING TO HELP THEM!'

He bent over panting heavily as King Kai held up a hand and said, 'Calm down. For a start your sister and the other two Nameks she's been living with aren't there right now. They're travelling with the Z Squad to assist in the defence.'

'Wait, what?' Kale said, confused with the situation, 'Why is Jean with them?'

'She's spent the better part of a year training alongside them under one of the Earth's greatest martial arts instructors,' King Kai replied, 'but if you are set on returning, then there's no time to go into that now.'

Kale nodded. 'That's okay,' he said, 'I can always ask them about that later. Right now I have to get back to Earth!'

He stood still for a moment, his fists clenched as hard as his jaw before asking, 'Umm, how do I get back to Earth?'

Goku and King Kai both recoiled and jumped back at his question, before falling backwards and landing with a crash that shook the planet.

Getting up and dusting himself off King Kai said, 'Hold on a minute and I'll see if I can arrange a lift for you.'

He stood still again, his antennae pointing forward and his attention focused on whoever he was speaking with.

Goku smiled, putting his hands on his waist.

'In the meantime, I've got an idea of how I could help you out,' he told Kale cheerfully.

Raising the first two fingers of his right hand to his forehead, Goku disappeared, leaving Kale to stare at the spot where he had been a moment before.

'Okay kid, your ride's set,' King Kai said, turning back to face Kale.

Then, when he didn't see Goku anywhere, he asked, 'Where did Goku get to?'

Kale shrugged, and said, 'He said he wanted to help, and then he vanished.'

'Huh,' King Kai said, 'that sounds like the complete opposite of helping.'

Peering at Kale with a sly look in his eye King Kai said, 'How about we give him a surprise when he gets back.'

Moving close to him, King Kai pointed his antennae at Kale's chest. With a small _pop_ ,his worn out training clothes disappeared, and in their place Kale was wearing a brand new outfit.

In place of his old clothes, he was now wearing a loose fitting pair of pants, and a loose shirt, both of which were coloured bright orange. Under the orange shirt was a blue under shirt, and a black and white symbol was printed on the left breast. Fastened around his middle was a blue sash.

Instead of a pair of gloves, Kale now wore two blue wristbands, and on his feet were a pair of boots similar to Goku's.

'Wow King Kai,' Kale said, examining himself all over, 'you didn't have to go all out like this.'

'Think nothing of it kid,' King Kai told him, blushing red.

A second later, Goku appeared beside him. In one hand he was carrying a short wooden poll painted red in a straw sheath.

'Sorry that took so long,' he told them, then catching sight of Kale he added, 'hey now, that outfit looks familiar.'

Smiling, King Kai said, 'I thought you might like it. It's a nice touch, don't you think?'

'It sure is,' Goku replied, 'and thanks for putting my name on it too.

'Kale, that symbol on the front is mine,' Goku told him, pointing to it.

'And mine's on the back,' King Kai added.

Stepping forward, Goku said, 'There's one more thing; I want you to have this.'

He held out the wooden pole, and when Kale took hold of it, he was surprised to find how light weight it was.

'If you're going to fight in a big battle, you need a weapon by your side,' Goku said with a smile, 'you remember those magic staves we trained with? Well, this one is a bit different. It's called the Power Pole. It's much stronger than those other ones, and it can extend much further!'

Kale stood there in his new clothes, holding the Power Pole with both hands. He ducked his head, humbled at their generosity.

'I can't begin to express in words just how thankful I am for everything you've done for me,' he told them in a quiet voice, 'for giving me a fighting chance, for helping me without question or thought for yourselves.'

Goku and King Kai exchanged a look, each wore an expression of absolute pride on their face.

'I am especially thankful to you King Kai,' Kale said, 'I feel kind of bad, running out like this.'

'Oh, don't mention it, my boy,' he told him, waving his hand dismissively, 'and anytime you're in the neighbourhood feel free to stop in for a cup of tea. Although, hopefully I wont be seeing you for many more years to come!'

His bad joke falling flat, King Kai went on, 'Either way, just be sure to give me plenty of notice so I have time to stock up my pantry in advance.'

Grinning, Kale told him, 'Will do.'

Turning to Goku, Kale found himself at a loss for words, so he simply said, 'Goku, thanks.'

Goku smiled, and held out his hand. 'If you're ready, I'll take you there now.'

Tying the Power Pole over his right shoulder and quickly wiping his eyes Kale took his hand and said, 'Yes, let's go.'

'Farewell Kale, until we meet again!' King Kai said, waving goodbye. Beside him Bubbles hooted excitedly, hopping up and down on the spot. Above their heads Gregory hovered and he called out to Kale, 'Keep up with your training slacker! Don't let all of our hard work go to waste!'

Kale flashed them another smile and said, 'I wont, and farewell to all of you!'

Then Kale blinked, and they were gone. He was standing beside Goku in an enormous room, bigger than any he had been in before, or deemed structurally possible, for that matter.

A giant sized wooden desk towered next to them and sitting at the desk only a giant could use, was a giant ogre. As Kale stared in wonder at his surroundings, he noticed that he could faintly hear the tinny sound of lobby music playing somewhere.

'Kale,' Goku said, bringing his attention back to him, 'this is Baba, she'll be escorting you from the check-in station, back to the world of the living.'

Sitting before them on a large crystal ball was a wizened old woman, bent with aged. She was dressed from neck to toe in black, and on her head she wore a pointed black hat.

'She's a little crabby, but she's nicer than she looks,' Goku added.

'Oh that's lovely Goku,' Baba said, narrowing her eyes at him, 'I haven't seen you in years and the first thing out of your mouth is an insult.'

She looked at Kale and asked 'Are you all ready to go?'

'Just a minute,' Goku told her, missing the dirty look she threw him.

Goku turned towards Kale, and put a hand on his shoulder. 'You don't have a lot of time to spare, so I'm going to be brief,' he told him, 'Just remember that whenever you're in a dark place; think of your friends. That's it's them you're fighting for. Let their strength flow into you, and you can't fail.'

'I will,' Kale promised, grinning broadly, 'anything else?'

'Yeah!' Goku said, returning his smile, 'Don't give up!'

Kale could have laughed. His stomach felt giddy, and he was anxious to be off.

'I won't,' he told Goku, 'ever. Not even if it's Rose himself who stands before me.'

Then, without really thinking about it, Kale hugged him. After a moment, Goku hugged him back.

Baba slowly counted down from five in her head before saying loudly, 'Alright, enough! I thought time was of the essence here.'

As they broke apart, Kale told Goku one last time, 'Thank-you again Goku!'

Raising his fingers to his forehead again, Goku replied, 'Don't mention it! Good luck Kale, and remember my words!'

And with that, he vanished.

Turning back to face Baba, Kale took a deep breath and said, 'Sorry about that. I'm ready now.'

Resting her wrinkled chin on her palm Baba harrumphed, before saying, 'There's one other thing actually. If I'd known that there would have been so much hugging I might have protested, but it's too late now. If you arrive to the battle late, it will be your fault.'

Frowning, Kale asked, 'What do you mean?'

Baba smiled. It took Kale a moment to realise what she was doing. For a moment, he thought she was grimacing in pain.

'There's someone here to see you Kale,' she told him quietly.

Confused, Kale asked, 'What do you mean by that? Who's here to see me?'

Baba raised her eyebrows, her eyes looking past his shoulder to someone behind him.

He followed her gaze and turned around, catching sight of the two people standing side by side. As he did, his heart skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat.

They hadn't changed since the day he had last seen them. They hadn't aged a day in the Otherworld. Their bodies were whole and healthy, and reflected none of the injuries that had been stricken against them the day they died. His old jumper was still stained black with grease, and she still wore the same homely clothes.

Struggling to take a proper breath, Kale managed to choke out, 'Mum? Dad?'

They both nodded, and the three of them moved towards each other, his parents holding him tightly as he sobbed into their embrace.

For a minute there was only silence, as the three of them stood still in lobby of the check-in station. Even the dreadful jingle being played over the speakers had been turned off.

Finally, Kale managed to pull himself together enough to call out, 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!'

His mother and father relaxed their grip on him enough for Kale to raise his head to look at their faces.

'You have nothing to be sorry for son,' his father told him.

Smiling the warm smile that Kale had almost forgotten he added, 'You've come so far. We have nothing but pride in you.'

Turning towards his mother Kale said, 'I'm sorry for disobeying you mum. I know this isn't the life you wanted for me. I know you only wanted me to be safe, and happy. I just-'

'It doesn't matter,' his mother said, cutting him off, 'I know the reason behind why you made the choices you did. Your father speaks for both of us; we have nothing but pride in you.'

Kale clenched his jaw, trying not to fall apart again.

'Now,' his mother continued, wiping her own eyes, 'Your father is right about you. You've come so far Kale.'

'Your fight's not over yet, son,' his father told him, breaking out of their hug and putting a hand on his shoulder, 'you're close to where it really begins now. Keep pushing forward, and don't look back!'

'Go now Kale,' his mother said, 'go with our blessing.'

Kale took a shaky step backwards away from them, not sure if he really was trying to leave or not. His mother mouthed the word 'Go' at him, and he took a deep breath to still his shuddering limbs.

As he took another step back his father called after him, 'Now Kale, I don't want you staying out any later than ten. That's more than late enough for a boy your age.'

'And make sure you wash really well behind your ears!' his mother added, 'You know that you always forgot to wash behind your ears!'

Curling his lip and rolling his eyes, Kale turned and began to walk back to where Baba was waiting.

'Give our love to your sister!'

'And don't talk to strangers!'

As they both called, 'We love you!' after him, Kale said to Baba, 'Oh man, let's get the heck out of here.'

His parents words ringing in his ears, Kale walked forward, and didn't look back.

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

King Kai stood looking up at the purple sky above as Goku reappeared beside him.

Not shifting his gaze he asked Goku, 'So he got on okay?'

'Yep,' Goku said cheerfully.

He bent his legs and sat cross legged on the soft grass, following King Kai's eyes and looking up at the sky with him.

'Hmm, well that's good,' King Kai firmly, trying to stop his bottom lip from trembling.

Goku had noticed. 'King Kai, are you crying?' he asked with a smile.

'I just have something in my eye,' King Kai replied, 'both of them at once it seems, what rotten luck!'

He rubbed his eyes on his sleeve and with his free hand he patted his pockets.

'Now where did that blasted thing get to-'

King Kai broke off as Goku held up a white handkerchief. He accepted it gratefully and after wiping his eyes, he blew his nose loudly on it.

'You know, Goku,' King Kai told him, 'that boy is a lot like you.'

Goku didn't reply. He lay back and straightened out on the grass, his hands folded behind his head and a smile on his face.

'Seems like we've still got a lot of work ahead of us,' King Kai lamented, 'they'll be no quiet retirement in the afterlife, what with that group of kids standing up for the Earth.'

'But you gotta admit, King Kai,' Goku said cheerfully, 'it sure does make life exciting.'

'Yes, I suppose it does,' King Kai agreed, as he lay down on the grass beside Goku.

Turning to him, Goku asked, 'Want to watch the fight?'

'Meh. Give it ten more minutes. It wont get interesting until our champion steps into the ring.'

After a long pause King Kai added, 'At least with that boy leading the charge they stand a good chance.'

'That's the truth!' Goku stated, 'He's got everything they need; skill, determination, and a cool head.'

They lay there together for another minute, before Goku got up saying that he wanted to get a snack before settling in to watch the fight.

…

EARTH

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS THE CLOSEST YOU COULD GET ME!'

Kale and Baba hovered alone in the air high above the ground. A cold wind whipped through Kale's hair. From this height one could see for miles and miles as the landscape stretched out below them in all of Mother Nature's beauty.

The view was the farthest thing from Kale's mind right now.

'Now, now, there's no need to shout,' Baba told him, 'I never said I could bring you out exactly where you wanted to go.'

Kale screamed through his teeth in frustration.

'THIS IS INSANE!' he roared, 'I CAN BARELY SENSE THE OTHERS POWER LEVELS! WE MUST BE AGES AWAY FROM THEM!'

'I'm not a taxi service,' Baba said with a heavy scowl, 'and what's more you should learn some manners, I'm an old woman!'

Kale gave a frustrated growl before speeding away in the direction of Corro's village.

'Didn't your parents teach you how to respect your elders!' the old witch yelled after him, 'In fact, I'm of the mind to go and ask them myself!'

Grumbling to herself she turned and flew off.

Kale was going far too fast to hear what she had said after he had taken off. He was flying at full speed, making for where the battle was being fought.

 _Hang on guys, I'm on my way! I promise I'll get there in time to help out, just hold down the fort until I arrive!_

As he sped towards the battlefield, his mind cast back over the last three years in which he'd met so many different people who'd all put their faith in him, and just how much they'd changed his life.

 _Everyone. Corro, Reed, Vert, Peppe, Dykon, Nett, Bobo, Kinwa, Lan, King Kai, Jean..._

 _Mum_

 _Dad_

 _Goku._

 _I'll make you proud! I'll make you all proud!_

…

After training for the last nine months under the legendary martial arts master, King Kai, and the tenacious Saiyan Goku, Kale stands ready to face the dangers ahead. But has his training in the Otherworld prepared him enough against an enemy as ferocious and resourceful as Rose's Intergalactic Army?

While Kale hurries to join the fight, the rest of the Z Squad, accompanied by Corro, Jean, Reed and Peppe, draw closer to the place many of them call home. With the horrors of the past still fresh in their memories, what unimaginable terrors will be waiting for them when they arrive?

And if there is indeed something waiting ready for them, are they ready for it?

Has the newly supplemented Z Squad's training under Master Korin been enough for them to match the forces that stand against them?

You wont want to miss anything yet to come, for in Part Three the Dragon Ball Saga will be concluded, so stand ready for the next non-stop, action packed chapter of Dragon Ball: Age 1000!


	4. Part Three

PART THREE: THE FIERCE FIGHT!

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE – AGE 1000

Blood ran down the side of Vert's head in a slow trickle and fell steadily to the ground below, sinking quickly into the soft soil.

His breath was laboured and ragged, and his arms hung loosely by his sides as his bent over.

Blinking blood out of his eyes, Vert stared straight ahead at the soldier who stood before him.

The man stood casually with his arms crossed, a cruel smile on his face. He was as tall as Vert, but his arms and legs were thick with powerful muscles. The old Namek didn't have a chance at matching his strength.

The soldier's skin was a dark, slate grey and was pitted with an uneven texture. His huge jaw made up half of his round head, which sat upon a very short neck. A short line of black bristles ran down the centre of his head, and two small tufts sat above his eyes. His puffy lips curled back in a savage grin to reveal a row of white pointed teeth.

He wore the standard black and white Intergalactic Army armour over a black body suit and from his belt hung a long, crudely shaped knife.

In the village around the pair, the sounds of battle could still be heard as some of Vert's people fought on in. Elsewhere, cries of despair and pleads for mercy rung in Vert's ears, accompanied by the cruel laughter of the ruthless soldiers.

The bodies of several Nameks lay unmoving on the ground around the soldier he faced. People he had known his whole life. Friends. Family.

The grotesque soldier sighed, before asking him, 'So what do you say, old man? Have you got one final round in you? Or is it time to end this little game?'

Vert sneered, and spat out a tooth. Wincing in pain, he managed to straighten up.

Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand he told the soldier, 'You should leave now, and take your friends with you. It wont go well for you if you don't.'

It was a bluff, and the soldier knew it.

Chuckling softly, the soldier begun to stride towards Vert, cracking his knuckles as he did.

'Not an option I'm afraid, old man,' he replied.

Vert's breathing quickened as the soldier approached. He didn't have the strength to fight anymore. His body felt numb and his legs weren't responding.

Moving faster than he could react, the soldier cleared the space between them in one leap, charging forward and smashing his fist into the side of Vert's head. Stars danced before his eyes as he was knocked to the ground.

'Why don't... why don't just... leave us alone?' he managed to say.

The soldier knelt beside him, and drew his knife.

'This is what happens when you stand against Rose!' he told Vert, 'If you don't join us, you die!'

 _At least Corro and Reed are safe away from here._

The soldier plunged his knife downwards, and Vert closed his eyes.

He heard the slapping sound of flesh on flesh and when he didn't feel the knife's blade he opened his eyes again.

Standing over the soldier was a tall, powerfully built Namek. Vert blinked quickly, trying to focus on the newcomer. He couldn't make out his face, but he could tell that he was wearing a simple training gi.

'C-Corro?' he asked.

The Namek had caught the soldier's arm just as he was about to drive his knife into Vert and the soldier sat squatted on the ground, struggling to free his arm from the Namek's grip and staring up at his face with a mixture of anger and alarm.

The soldier howled in pain as the Namek squeezed his arm tighter.

'I, for one, will always stand against you,' the stranger told the soldier, before he drew his right fist back and slammed it into the soldier's jaw.

His punch sent the soldier flying into the side of a nearby house. He landed against it with a hard crunch, then fell to ground and struggled to pull himself up onto the one knee.

The soldier's face was twisted with fury, but before he could launch a counter attack the Namek thrust his arms forward. Placing his left hand behind his right he roared, 'PHASER FLASH!'

A bright purple beam of energy shot from his palm and struck the soldier's chest, blasting through his armour and burning it's way completely through.

Vert pulled himself up, his head still spinning.

'Corro...' he said again.

'Not quite,' the stranger replied, 'but he's here with me.'

The Namek launched himself into the air and yelled, 'Alright, spread out! You know what to do!'

Vert watched him speed towards another group of soldiers. The old Namek's legs shook and he began to fall forward. A hand caught around his chest and he felt someone pull his arm over their shoulder.

Struggling to stay concious, Vert tried to focus on moving one foot after the other when he heard a familiar voice beside him.

'It's alright now Vert,' Corro told him as he led the elderly Namek away from the battlefield, 'we're here to help.'

Around them the sounds of the fight intensified, except now Vert could hear the yells of soldiers as they were taken by surprise. In his dazed state, he thought he had imagined the voice.

'Is... is that really you Corro?' he asked.

'It's me,' the young Namek replied, 'Reed's here too. Don't talk, just keep focused on staying awake.'

The old man shook his head. 'There are too many of them boy,' he told him, 'you shouldn't have come back. You must leave now while you still can.'

'I'm not going anywhere,' Corro said, and Vert could hear the smile behind his words, 'and don't worry about the soldiers. I've brought a few friends.'

…

Blocking the punch that one of the soldiers threw at him, Nett grabbed his wrist and yanked the soldier off his feet. Grunting with the effort he twisted around and threw the soldier into the path of another as he lunged at Nett.

He blocked the kick that another one aimed at him, then slammed his fist down on the soldier's shin with his other hand. As the alien soldier shrieked in pain, Nett swung his hands down and finished him off with a devastating blow to the neck.

Granted a brief reprieve from the fighting, Nett looked around to see how the others were faring.

A short distance away, Lan stood surrounded by ten soldiers. The ground shook under her feet, and small stones rose to hover around her. Lighting crackled around her as her energy made the very air hum with her power. She laughed maniacally, her sword in her hand and her tail held out behind her for balance. Her jacket lay on the ground beside her, the muscles of her bare arms bulged as her power surged.

Despite outnumbering her, the soldiers were hesitant to engage with the fierce warrior. They waited too long however, and as her energy reached it's max, Lan lunged forward, cleaving the soldier closest to her in half.

Holding her sword wide at the end of her swing, she turned her head to face the one on his right and stuck her left hand under her right arm, blowing the second soldier away with a yellow blast.

She turned on the spot, swinging her sword and catching another in the throat as he ran at her.

Above the battlefield, Bobo and Kinwa hovered stationary.

Raising his hands above his head, Bobo formed a ball of pink energy bigger than he was. With a high pitched laugh, he threw the ball down to slam into a group of soldiers below, consuming them in a large explosion.

As a mushroom shaped cloud rose above the crater he had left, Bobo hopped from one foot to the other mid-air and clapped his hands together.

Beside him, Kinwa ran the palms of her hands against each other and flung her arms in a wide arc. Two streams of blue energy flowed from her fingers, before quickly condensing into two short spears.

Grasping one in each hand, Kinwa cried, 'ARC JAVELIN!'

As two soldiers flew up to meet her, she threw both of the spears, impaling the soldiers and sending them down in a crash.

Nett could no longer see the others, but his senses were telling him that they were very much alive, their energy burning bright against his mind's eye.

His attention quickly returned refocused on himself, as another two soldiers ran at him.

Nett blocked the first one's punch and managed to twist his arm in a tight lock, before bringing his fist down on the soldier's elbow joint with a sickening crunch.

As the soldier's arm fell uselessly to his side, Nett grabbed his shoulders and slammed his forehead into his flat nose, sending him sprawling into the dirt.

Nett quickly swung his arm around and caught the blast the second soldier had fired at him. The ball of energy ricochetted off the edge of his hand and spun off, exploding in the sky above them.

With a yell, Nett thrust his hand forward and returned fire with his own attack.

He quickly turned to face the source of a noise behind him and was alarmed to see the first soldier he had knocked down getting to his feet as blood pumped from his nose.

The soldier wiped his nose on the back of his glove and ran at Nett.

Before Nett could react the second soldier grabbed him from behind, holding him in a full nelson lock. Nett struggled to break free, as the first soldier lunged forward and drove his fist into his gut.

The Namek bent forward as he gasped for air, unable to break out of the soldier's tight hold. The bloodied soldier drew back his arm again and began to furiously punch Nett in the face.

His vision swam as he desperately tried to focus his energy to free himself.

Growling deep in his throat, Nett channelled his energy into every part of his body, then let it burst out in every direction in an orange wave. The weight of the soldier holding him lifted, as he and one in front of Nett were sent flying.

Turning quickly and falling to one knee, Nett finished the one behind him with a Phaser Flash, then, twisting around, his eyes widened in shock as first one was up again and already standing over him.

His ugly features contorted with fury, the soldier swung his fist down at Nett's head. Before his blow could land, there was a flash of steel from behind him and the top of his head went spinning away. As his body pitched forward, it revealed Lan standing behind him, her face twisted in a savage grin.

'Thanks,' Nett said, breathing hard.

'Don't mention it!' Lan said, springing away, 'That's just another one you owe me!'

Smiling to himself, Nett took a moment to ready himself. As he stood up, he jumped back in shock as Kinwa shot out of the sky and crashed into the ground in front of him. Her eyes were shut tight and she grimaced in pain, holding one of her shoulders.

'Kinwa!' Nett cried, but before he could move to help her the sounds of fighting above him drew his gaze.

A broad, squat alien had Bobo by the tentacles on his head and was using him like an elastic punching bag. The soldier wore the armour of an Intergalactic Army officer, his skin was a dark, mottled green and his bald head was covered in stubby horns.

Now Nett understood why he'd had so much trouble with those other two soldiers. They had been Captain Ivy's aides.

Ivy was holding Bobo's tentacles in one hand and was punching him in the face with the other. Each punch threw Bobo back but Ivy quickly jerked on his tentacles, pulling him back before delivering another heavy punch.

As Nett watched on in horror, Bobo sent a jolt of purple electricity through his head into Ivy. The shock caused Ivy to lose his grip, and he roared furiously like an animal in pain. Ivy brought his hands together and swung them into the back of Bobo's head, sending him crashing into the ground below.

Corro landed beside Nett and quickly moved to hep Kinwa.

'Don't worry about us!' he yelled at Nett, 'I'll take care of them, you just handle that guy!'

Nett yelled, releasing his energy and letting his aura swirl around him.

'I'm counting on you Corro!' he told him, taking flight towards Ivy.

A large ball of green energy formed in Ivy's hand, and he pointed it towards the ground where he had knocked Bobo. His scouter didn't detect Nett's approach fast enough and Nett slammed his shin into Ivy's wrist before he could react. The blast shot out from Ivy's hand, but it's course had been diverted and and flew up into the sky, before curving around and crashing into the forest around the village.

Ivy turned towards his attacker and his eyes widened as he recognised the Namek.

'You!' he breathed angrily at Nett, 'You damn Namek!'

He broke away from Nett and sent another blast towards him. Nett ducked as it flew over his shoulder then flew at Ivy.

'Damn you Nett!' Ivy roared as they exchanged blows at rapid speed, 'Do you have any idea how angry Cackas was when he found out you'd gotten away with the Dragon Balls!'

Smirking, Nett told him, 'It's not my fault if you're bad at your job.'

Ivy yelled in frustration through his teeth and sent a hard punch at flying at Nett's head.

Nett crossed his arms over his face and Ivy's fist crashed into his forearms, his wrists going numb from the blow.

Before he could ready a counter-attack, Ivy grabbed hold of Nett's arms and held them tightly crossed against his chest. Flipping above Nett, Ivy began to push down causing them both to rapidly fall towards the ground.

Panic began to creep into Nett's mind, as he struggled to free himself from Ivy's grip. The air whistled past his head and as they fell below the line of trees, Nett could feel the distance between them and ground rapidly shrinking.

'I've waited for this for a long time!' Ivy yelled over the roar of the wind, 'Cackas has had me out doing this grunt work, but now I'll have my revenge!'

Focusing his energy, Nett opened his mouth wide and fired a yellow blast point blank at Ivy's face. The Captain's eyes widened and his head snapped backwards, his grip on Nett slackening enough for him to break loose.

Nett flung his arms out to the side and stopped himself from falling just before he collided with the ground. The air beneath him was pushed outwards with a _whoosh_ which kicked up a cloud of dust.

Letting himself fall the rest of the few feet to the ground, Nett landed on his back, his chest heaving up and down.

Above him, Ivy clutched at his smoking face, shaking with fury. As he opened his eyes he looked down at Nett in hatred.

'You... you...' he said, struggling to speak coherently through his anger.

With his attention fixed on Nett below him, he didn't notice as Peppe and Reed rushed at him from behind. His scouter beeped rapidly, but before he could turn to face them, the two boys each landed a kick in the small of his back which sent him shooting towards the ground.

'He's coming your way Jean!' Reed called to her.

As Ivy fell towards the Earth, Jean appeared beneath him and readied an attack in her hands. Her energy pulsed around her in a blue aura making her long hair wave widly.

Before she could fire it, Ivy flipped over in mid-air and began speeding towards her. He held up his hand and shot his own blast at her.

Kinwa moved next to Jean and elbowed her out of the way, firing a small energy blast at Ivy's, causing it to blow up before it hit them. At the last second, Kinwa jumped to the side as Ivy twisted and landed feet first on the ground with a loud crash, right where she had been standing.

Nett pulled himself to his feet and rushed to help them as Ivy roared in fury and pointed his palm at Jean.

 _I wont make it in time!_

Just as he was about to fire his attack, Lan's blade burst through his chest from behind and he arched his back in pain.

Blood running from his mouth, he turned to look at the Saiyan warrior crouching behind him, one resting on the pommel of her sword pushing the blade deeper.

'D-damn you all...' he managed to say, coughing up more blood.

Stopping in front of Ivy, Nett smirked, held up his hands inches from Ivy's face and cried, 'PHASER FLASH!'

Lan ducked as the stream of purple energy burst out from Nett's hands and soared over her head. The beam completely obliterated Ivy from the neck up, and she felt her sword slide free as his body fell forward.

…

High above the tree line below Kale flew at full speed towards the battle ground.

 _Oh man, I hope I'm not too late! I could feel Nett's energy getting dangerously low, and I definitely felt someone's disappear just now._

Kale gritted his teeth and flew on.

 _Just hold on a little further guys, I'm almost there..._

As he moved onward towards the fight, the young Saiyan suddenly gasped as he felt a power level larger than those before appear close to the village, moving in the same direction he was heading.

 _What the... Who could that be? At this rate they'll arrive before me. Whoever they are, I just hope that they're on our side._

 _Everybody, please hang in there!_

…

Nett bent over double, his hands on his knees. He took deep ragged breaths trying to slow his rapidly beating heart.

Lan moved next to Nett and held out her arm. He put one hand her shoulder and she gripped his forearm holding him steadily upright.

'You alright there big guy?' she asked him.

'Yeah,' he replied, his breathing returning to normal, 'I'm fine. It's just... Ivy was a tough guy, that's all.'

Lan flashed him a smile. 'Nothing we couldn't handle,' she said, punching him softly in the side.

Nett looked around. 'Is that all of them?' he asked her.

There was a high pitched yelp nearby and Nett turned to see a scrawny looking soldier crawling away on his hands and knees as fast as he could. Reed strolled leisurely after him.

'Not quite,' the young Namek called over to Nett, 'he's the last one.'

Looking over at Jean who stood nearby, Nett asked, 'What were you guys doing here? You were supposed to get these people to safety.'

'And we did,' Jean said coolly, crossing her arms, 'we got all of the survivors away from the battle. Then, when we felt you guys getting the tar beaten out of you, we came back to help.

'You're welcome, by the way,' she added, tossing her hair back from her shoulder with one hand.

Nett gave her a small smile. 'Thank-you,' he told her quietly.

He lifted his arm off Lan's shoulder and stood straight, breathed in deeply and cracked his knuckles loudly.

'Reed, finish off that last one!' he called out to the boy.

Reed had stopped following the soldier and he stood still with his arms crossed. Nett followed his gaze.

The soldier crawled slowly towards the edge of the village, and it was only then that Nett noticed the figure standing there. He was the one that Reed was watching.

Nett breathed in quickly, his eyes widening in shock. He recognised the man from various photos he had been shown, as well as a short film clip a dying soldier had recorded off his scouter in his last moments.

Instead of skin, the newcomer was covered in a scaly hide of a mustard yellow shade. He wore a black under suit that covered his legs, but his arms were bare. Covering his chest was an impressive suit of armour, painted bright red with gold trim. The pauldrons of his armour were coloured tan and had a rounded square shape, less common among the soldiers in Rose's army.

A curved sword of an intricate, yet cruel design hung from a sheath of black lacquered wood. Gold symbols were painted down the length of the wood, and the hilt had a wide, criss-crossed guard.

A pair of gauntlets of the same design as his armour covered only his wrists, leaving his hands bare. On each he had a thumb and two fingers. His fingers had an extra digit, and a short white claw grew from their ends.

Grieves matching his gauntlets were strapped to his shins, but he left his feet bare as no boot could be made to fit him.

Each foot had three toes facing forward one facing back like the feet of a bird. The inner most toe at the front pointed upwards and a long, curved claw like a raptors grew outwards. His other toes had short white claws, like those on his fingers.

Two small slits in his face served as a nose and he had two small holes on either side of his head for ears. His jaw jutted forward out from his face and he had a wide U shaped mouth that turned down at the ends. A pair of white fangs pointed downwards and overlapped his bottom lip.

From either side of his head, a spiral shaped ivory horn grew and starting just above his neck, a row of spines the same colour of his horns ran down his back, poking through his armour and continuing along the length of his long tail.

Above his small nose were a pair of red eyes. They were wide and shaped on an angle like a cat's. He had no sclera and his pupils were thin slits, running the whole length from the top of his eye to the bottom.

Over his left eye he wore a scouter coloured a shade of red deeper than his eyes.

Commander Cackas watched as the soldier before him crawled closer.

'Sir... I... I...' the soldier gasped out, unable to form a sentence.

Cackas breathed in deeply through his nose, then let out the air in a small sigh. As the soldier came to a shaking halt in front of him, he slowly raised his arm and pointed a finger at him. A thin beam of red energy exploded from his finger and burned a hole clean through the soldier's right arm.

The soldier cried out in pain, falling forward, unable to hold himself upright. As he lay on the ground moaning quietly, Cackas raised his eyes and looked over at the Z Squad for the first time.

Nett stood frozen on the spot, as Cackas stared at him. The Commander kept his gaze fixed on him for a solid minute before opening his mouth to speak. His voice carried over the distance between them and Nett could hear him clearly.

'It seems you've managed to kill all of my men. How bothersome...'

His speech had a soft, fluid tone. When he spoke the letter S his pronunciation extended the syllable slightly.

Commander Cackas sighed again, before striding forward and placing one foot over the fallen soldier's head, his toes curling around it.

'How bothersome...' he repeated, pushing down on the soldier's head.

The soldier jerked once, then was still.

Reed sniffed at this at this brutal act, neither impressed nor intimidated.

'Whatever...' the Namek said, and he began to walk towards the Commander.

Cackas' gaze shifted from Nett to Reed, as the boy approached him.

Nett launched himself forward, ignoring the exhaustion he felt from his previous bouts, and flew as fast as he could at Reed.

'No, Reed! Get back!' he called to him as he shot through the air.

Reed stopped and looked back at Nett. As soon as he had taken his eyes off him, Cackas sprung towards him, his mouth open wide and his teeth bared.

Landing just beside the young Namek, Nett grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out of danger. He threw Reed behind him, then swung his left fist around as Cackas reached them.

The Commander's right hand shot up and he caught Nett's fist, stopping him in his tracks. Cackas quickly brought his other hand in low towards Nett's stomach, but Nett moved his free hand to stop the blow.

It never came.

Instead, Nett felt something pierce through the flesh of his abdomen and out the other side, leaving an excruciating feeling of burning pain behind.

He looked down, and saw that the attack had been a feint. Cackas had stopped his fist mid-punch and instead had fired a beam through him while he had been left wide open. His finger was pointing at Nett's torso, the end was still smoking.

'Not very impressive Nett,' Cackas told him, before curling his left hand into a fist and slamming it into the side of his head.

Nett stumbled backwards, reeling as his head spun. Twisting, Cackas kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying back through the village. The other fighters watched in disbelief as he shot past them. Nett crashed into the side of one of the Namekian houses, breaking through the wall and coming to a painful stop, lying amongst the rubble.

Lan slowly turned back to face Commander Cacaks again, the earth beneath her feet shaking as her rage built and her face contorted in a furious snarl. She raised her sword and flew at Cackas. Drawing his own, he ran to meet her.

Nett lay in the destroyed Namekian house, too injured to move. His breathing was short and quick, and he was beginning to feel light headed. He felt a hand close around his wrist and someone pulled him up out of the rubble. Whoever it was quickly laid him down on the soft ground, then Nett began to feel an itching sensation in his chest.

Daylight pressed against his eyelids and he opened them to reveal Corro kneeling beside him with his hands pressed against the wound Cackas had dealt him. The Namek had removed his coat and his shirt had been torn open from the right shoulder.

'Just try not to move right now,' he told Nett.

Wincing in pain, Nett replied, 'I'm sorry about this Corro. I'm dead because I rushed him head on like a fool.'

'It wasn't like that at all, you saved Reed from getting killed,' Corro said with a smile, 'and don't talk like you're dying. Just take a look at yourself.'

Nett realised as they had been speaking, the pain in his chest had been getting less and less. When Corro took his hands away, Nett felt for the wound Cackas had dealt him, but found only smooth, wholesome skin.

Pushing himself up onto his elbow Nett told Corro, 'I'm sorry, for a moment there, I forgot that you could heal wounds Corro.'

The other Namek held out his hand and helped pull Nett to his feet. As he stood up, Nett looked around and that Lan and Cackas were engaged in a furious duel. Both of the fighters were moving so fast that their swords appeared as blurs, as if fighting with three swords apiece.

'Can Lan beat him?' Corro asked Nett.

Nett clenched his fists. 'No,' he replied, 'I know her and right now she's letting anger cloud her focus. She'll never beat him like that.'

'Then we'll just have to go help her out,' Corro said, cracking his knuckles.

'No,' Nett said.

As Corro turned to look at him, Nett put his hand on his shoulder.

'You're too valuable,' he told him, 'if we get into trouble we'll need you to patch us up.'

Frowning, Corro asked, 'You expect me to just sit and watch quietly from the sidelines?'

'No, but I wont have you running in to face him head on. I'm the leader of this squad, and if you want to be part of this team, you'll do what I say, clear?'

Corro held his gaze for a moment, before nodding.

'Good,' Nett said, giving him a small smile, 'just make sure you get to us in time.'

…

Sweat ran in rivers down Lan's face. She had never fought this hard, or this fast in her life. Commander Cackas had her pulling all the stops on everything she could use against him. He fought with a style that emphasized speed above all else, and she was forced to constantly defend herself with little room for counter-attacks.

As they fought, his yellow lips were pulled back, baring his white fangs in a savage grin. His sword was shorter than her own and he held it with one hand as he attacked continuously, keeping the pressure on her, trying to find an opening.

He had already found several. Blood ran down her arms and her cheek, mixing with the sweat on her face. Lan hadn't managed to land a blow yet.

The blade of the sword Cackas wielded was broad, but it's edge had several thin, jagged shards running off it. When he had landed a hit, it felt like it was tearing at her skin, rather than cutting it. The hilt and guard were gold, but the blade itself was polished black.

For the first time since they had joined battle, Cackas spoke.

'Feeling tired?' he asked her.

She ignored him, concentrating on the fight.

As their blades crossed again he chuckled and said, 'You must be feeling tired Lanthal. You can stop now. If you give up, it will be over quicker than you can blink.'

Growling, Lan swung her sword up at his head. As it smashed against his own with a loud clang, she yelled at him, 'Shut up! It's over when I say it is!'

Cackas slid his sword away from hers and moved to get at her side. When he lunged forward Lan moved to block his sword, but he kept pushing and her eyes widened as he trapped her sword against her body. Her arms were too tired to force him off and before she could think of something, Cackas wrapped his tail around her ankle.

He pulled and her foot slipped out from under her, as she desperately tried to cover herself with her sword.

'It's over,' Cackas announced.

He kicked his leg straight up, the side of his foot hit Lan's chin and she stumbled back, dazed. Before he could deliver the finishing blow his scouter beeped, indicating upwards. Cackas looked up, just as Kinwa sent a large blue energy ball spinning towards him.

He quickly sheathed his sword and reached up, stopping the blast with his hands. His fingers dug into it and veins stood put against his skin as he split the ball into two smaller blasts. He flung his arms to either side as he launched himself into the sky, ignoring Lan who had fallen to the ground, going after Kinwa.

She drew back in shock as Cackas came at her, but something moved in the corner of his eye and he stopped short of reaching her. His right arm snapped up and Reed's shin collided with it, making the young Namek's leg tingle.

His scouter beeped on his left and he brought his other arm up to block Peppe's kick as the boy came at him from his other side.

Cackas pushed them off, then smiled as Nett joined the other three and they attacked all at once. The Commander ducked and spun, either dodging or blocking every move the four fighters tried to hit him with. Despite having fought a furious duel with Lan, Cackas was easily holding them all off, even finding openings to strike back.

Below him, Bobo formed a large pink blast in his hands and sent it shooting up at him. In the last moment before it hit him, Cackas flipped over and slammed his tail into it, sending it careering back at the Majin.

As the four fighters engaged him again, Cackas noticed Jean flying up to join them. She flew up to attack him from below and he moved to punch through her attack before she could hit him. As he jabbed his fist at her, his eyes widened as his hand passed through her. Too late, he realised that fighting four warriors at once had made him over-confidant, leading him to underestimate one of the youngest among them. The blurred image left by Jean faded and half a second later her foot smashed into the side of his head from above.

Caught completely off guard, Cackas was shot, head first, straight towards the ground beneath them. With a loud crash, he struck one of the houses in the village and punched his way through the roof. There was a resounding _BOOM_ as he hit the stone floor of the house and a cloud of white dust began to drift out of the hole his head had made.

The Z Squad crowded around Jean. They all cheered loudly and slapped her on the back.

As Lan, Bobo and Corro flew up to join them, Nett cried, 'Yes! We can do this, we can win! We just have to work as a team!'

The group fell silent as the very air around them began to shake. Bits of rubble that lay around the village were lifted into the air and broken up into a fine powder. The house that Jean had kicked Cackas into exploded, sending the stone flying in every direction.

Commander Cackas slowly rose into the air, a red sphere of swirling energy surrounding him. He lifted his arms, like a conductor about to begin a performance, and when he raised his head to look at them, they saw his eyes glowed bright red.

'You've made me very happy...' he told them, his voice reverberating with power, 'So very, very happy.'

As he Cackas rose higher above the ground, his face twisted into a wide grin and he said, 'I was going to finish you all quickly. It would have been quick and painless...'

He clenched his fists tightly and his face twisted with rage. The smooth surface of the sphere that surrounded him began to crackle and distort. When he spoke again his voice had dropped several tones to match the hum of the air.

'But now!' Cackas roared, 'Soon you will be begging me to end your suffering! I promise each and everyone of you, that the final moments of your lives will be spent in excruciating pain!'

There was a loud _crack_ and as Cackas shot towards them the stone floor split beneath him.

'Here he comes, get ready!' Nett called to them.

Each one of the fighters took their stance as Cackas rapidly rose to meet them.

'Come at him from all sides, don't let up on the pressure!' Nett told them, 'Ready? Let's go!'

…

'Let's go!' Nett shouted.

In unison, the eight fighters dived downwards to meet Commander Cackas head on. On Jean's left was Kinwa. Corro matched her speed on her other side.

As all them rushed towards him, Cackas suddenly stopped in mid-air. He stretched out his arms and legs and with a yell, beams of red light shot from the sphere that surrounded him towards the oncoming fighters.

Jean didn't react fast enough. One of them collided with her stomach and knocked the wind out of her. She clutched at her belly as pain lanced through her body.

Beside her Kinwa had dodged a beam fast enough for it to only graze her shoulder. She fell back behind Jean, her face twisted in pain. Corro crossed his arms and covered his head. His forearms had been blackened by the force of the beam. Smoke rose from the wounds on his arms.

Jean began to fall towards the ground, unable to keep herself aloft. Her shirt had been burned away by Cackas' powerful attack, leaving the skin underneath exposed. The area where the beam had struck her had been burnt and her skin peeled apart to reveal the reddened raw flesh beneath.

Lan was the first to reach Commander Cackas. One of the beams had hit her in the side of her head over her eye, but the fierce Saiyan had kept going. She swung her sword over her head, her right eye closed over, and bought it down upon his head just as Cackas drew his own.

The swords clashed against each other with an ear splitting screech of metal on metal as Cackas blocked Lan's strike, with only one hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword.

Cackas quickly brought his other hand up and pointed his finger at her, trying to catch her with the same trick he'd used on Nett. Lan saw it coming and twisted her body as Cackas fired his attack. The beam caught her in the shoulder and as Lan recoiled away from him, Cackas lunged forward after her.

Cackas wrapped his tail tight around Lan's throat, then swung in a wide arc and slung her away. She flew like a torpedo and crashed into one of the trees that bordered the village. The trunk cracked from the force of the impact and she fell limply to ground out cold.

'Lan!' Corro cried.

He broke away from the group and sped after her.

'Oh no,' Commander Cackas roared, 'You won't be bringing anybody back!'

The soldier flung his arm wide and threw a red wave of energy after the Namek. It struck Corro in mid-air and he dropped out of the sky like a falling stone in the centre of the village.

Nett and Bobo rushed Cackas together. The Majin had a large hole that had been burnt through his chest by the Commander's attack, but he didn't let it slow him down.

The three fighters came together in a flurry of blows. It was immediately obvious to Nett that Cackas was no longer taking the fight lightly. Every time Cackas blocked one of his fists, he felt like he was simply throwing punches at a stone wall. Nett's limbs shook each time one of the Commander's own crashed down on his.

With a short series of powerful blows, Cackas managed to get past Nett's guard and clip him on the chin. The Namek dropped back and blinked quickly, trying to clear the spots that danced before his eyes.

Cackas lunged forward, his fist raised. Before he could finish Nett off, Bobo threw a punch at the Commander from a short distance away, his arm stretching to clear the space between them. The Majin's blow smashed into the scouter Cackas wore and broke it against his head.

Bobo grinned triumphantly. Cackas slowly turned to face him. He began to shake with fury as blood ran down his face where the broken glass of the scouter's lens had cut him.

Cackas grabbed hold of Bobo's arm and pulled hard. The extended limb suddenly became taut and Bobo was yanked forward, the elasticity of the limb pulling him towards Cackas.

Bobo cried in alarm as he shot through the air. Cackas drew back his fist then punched Bobo in the head so hard he exploded. A mass of small red blobs flew in every direction. Cackas shook bits of Bobo from his hand and brushed more off his armour.

'Disgusting,' he said quietly, turning back towards Nett.

The Namek's senses had returned to normal, but before he could defend himself, Cackas reached out and wrapped his fingers around Nett's throat. Nett's eyes bulged and he gasped for air as Cackas tightened his grip.

Just as Nett's vision began to turn black, Peppe and Reed came at Cackas from two different sides. Reed came in fast on his left and aimed for the area the scouter had damaged. Before Reed's attack could connect, Cackas snapped his arm up, his own fist darted past Reed's and slammed him in the face.

Cackas caught the young Namek by the front of his shirt, just before Peppe reached him from above. Cackas flipped upside down and used one foot to knock the boy's fist away, then wrapped the toes on his other foot around Peppe's face.

The Commander flipped right-side up again. He held Nett by the throat with one hand, and Reed in the other. Below them, Peppe struggled to free himself from Cackas' grip, the Commander's taloned foot obscuring his face.

'All in all, I have to say that I am disappointed with the famed Z Squad's effort,' Cackas said, 'if you lowly maggots are the best your planet has to offer, I am truly amazed that you've managed to hold out for this long.

'Though with you lot finally out of the picture, it should only be a matter of weeks until the last vestiges of your paltry resistance are crushed,' Cackas told Nett, a cruel smile on his face.

'Not just yet!' a voice said from above them.

'Oh?' Cackas said, looking up.

Hovering high in the air above the ground was Kinwa. Her eyes shone with a brilliant blue light and lighting of the same shade danced across her skin as her muscles bulged. Kinwa gritted her teeth, and clapped her hands together, her shoulder still smoking slightly.

As her aura flashed around her like blue flames, Kinwa opened her hands to form a diamond with her fingers and lined Cackas up in her sights.

The Commander laughed. 'To be honest I'd forgotten all about you, my dear,' he told Kinwa.

'Let them go!' Kinwa yelled, ignoring the jab.

Cackas rolled his eyes. 'Or what?' he asked, 'You'll fire and kill all of us? Unlikely...'

'If I have to...' Kinwa replied, her face hardening.

'I could kill them now,' Cackas said, a light emanating from his hands.

Kinwa tensed. 'If you kill them now, then there'll be nothing to prevent me from destroying you!'

Cackas was silent for a moment. Then he said with a smile, 'I guess it looks like we got ourselves a good ol' fashioned Arcosian stand off.'

'There's another option,' Kinwa told him, 'you can leave, Commander Cackas. Right now. We call it a draw today and settle the score some other time.'

'You really expect me to agree to that?' Cackas said with a sneer.

'Then you just try making a move!' Kinwa yelled loudly, 'You may not have a scouter, but you must be able to tell how much energy I'm putting into this attack. If you think you can charge me head-on then call my bluff.'

Narrowing his eyes at her, Cackas slowly released his grip on the three fighters and they fell limply to the ground.

'You know,' Cackas said, looking down at the fallen fighters around the village, 'now that they're out of the way-'

He looked back up at Kinwa, a twisted smile on his face.

'-there's nothing to stop you from firing that attack.'

Kinwa's eyes widened in fear, knowing that she had to strike now before he came after her.

Taking a quick breath, she bellowed, 'NEO-'

Before Kinwa could launch her attack, Cackas quickly fired two thin red beams from his eyes at her face. His aim was spot on and Kinwa bent over in pain, her hands over her eyes.

With a triumphant laugh, Cackas shot up towards her. Unable to see, Kinwa could do nothing to defend herself. Spittle flew from her mouth as Cackas rammed his knee into her stomach. He disappeared in a flash and reappeared behind her. He swung his fists together, landing a devastating blow on her back.

The blow knocked Kinwa to the ground, where she landed with a crash close to Lan.

Wincing, Lan managed to raise her head to look at Kinwa.

She lay on her chest, one hand still covering her eyes. The other moved desperately over the ground feeling for something to hold onto.

Lan coughed hard, then asked, 'Hey, Kinwa, can you hear me?'

'Lan?' Kinwa replied, panic creeping into her voice, 'I... I can't see!'

The Saiyan coughed again. She gingerly felt her side where she had hit the tree and hissed in pain as her body twisted.

'He's taken it all out of me,' Lan told her friend, 'I'm spent.'

Kinwa pounded the ground with her free hand as tears began to leak from between her fingers.

'Hey... hey,' Lan said, reaching out and taking Kinwa's hand, 'just give me a minute... or several... and I'll be up again, then I'll make him sorry.'

Despite her distress, Kinwa managed to choke out a laugh.

'I... I don't see us getting out of this one,' she replied, 'we're gonna need a hell of a trump card to change the odds at this stage.'

Commander Cackas looked down at the fallen figures lying amongst the rubble of the village and laughed triumphantly. Among the unmoving bodies of the Namekian residents, the members of the Z Squad lay, either out cold, or too injured to move.

'You see!' Cackas called down to them, 'This is what happens when you try to stand against Rose! There is no resisting him and his all mighty servants!

'You can climb to the top of the tallest tree on your miserable planet and shake your fists at the moon, but your rocks shall never strike it!' Cackas yelled, sweeping his arm wide in a dramatic arc.

Without his scouter, Cackas would have been alerted to the incoming attack. Even without it, if he hadn't let his guard down he still could have easily noticed it's approach and moved before it could strike him. 

As it happens, as the Commander roared down at the Earth's defenders, he never had time to react.

'You can-' Cackas was suddenly cut off as a large energy ball collided with his back and exploded into an enormous blue blast.

He was pushed forward and flipped through the air several times before he was able to stop himself from falling.

Cackas screamed through his teeth, as his eyes scanned the village below to see who could have caught him off guard. His eyes settled on Jean, the only one of them still upright, as she stood amongst the bodies of the fallen Nameks, breathing hard.

'I thought... he'd never shut up,' Jean said, bending over and resting her hands on her knees.

Commander Cackas' face twitched with rage. The back of his armour smoked where Jean's attack had landed, but she hadn't been able to pierce through.

'You...' Cackas said, his voice shaking with rage, 'You are so, DEAD!'

Flipping head first, he shot towards where Jean stood and landed in front of her hard, his feet leaving impressions several inches deep.

With a strangled yell, Cackas swung his leg at Jean's head. Jean managed to block the attack in time, her left arm taking the blunt of the attack, but Cackas, not bothering to try and get around her guard, simply pulled his leg back, then kicked at her again, hard enough to break Jean's arm.

Jean's scream of pain was quickly cut short, as Cackas came in with a punch that sent her flying.

Groaning with the effort, Jean pulled herself to her feet and stood unsteadily as Cackas slowly walked towards her.

Jean looked around her, at the bodies of the people they had tried to protect. At all of the houses she had visited during her time in the village. So many memories. So many lives lost.

Nearby, Nett crawled over to where Corro lay unmoving on the ground.

Jean felt her knees go weak, as a wave of despair crashed over her. She blinked back tears and her hands began to shake. As Cackas drew closer, Jean looked at him and for the first time felt a feeling of terror she hadn't experienced since that fateful night three years ago.

Standing before this terrifying alien, completely overwhelmed, Jean felt the urge to turn and run as fast and far as she could, then find a small, dark spot to give in and cry for herself, her parents and her brother.

As quickly as the sensation to flee had come over her, it left as Jean's body tensed and her face set in a determined expression.

 _No. I can't run. I won't. Kale wouldn't run, so neither will I._

Cackas was just a few meters away now, closing the gap between them with each step.

 _Even if I die here, it will be on my terms. I'm not the sobbing child Kale left behind three years ago. Before I go to meet my parents, I'll show them all, just how strong I've become!_

With less than a meter between them, Jean thrust her good arm forward and fired an enormous blue wave at Cackas.

The wave completely consumed him and he was obscured from sight. For a second, Jean thought that the attack had been enough to defeat him. Then the Commander's left hand reached out from inside the energy wave and closed around her wrist.

Jean cried out in pain as he squeezed, her attack quickly cutting off. Cackas lifted her hand above her head and booted her in the stomach where his beam had struck her earlier.

Stumbling backwards, Jean clutched at her stomach as burned pain shot through her body. She looked up and flinched as she saw Cackas was already right in front of her.

She slowly looked up into his face, as he held up his hand and began to form a ball of red energy in his palm.

Pulling himself up onto one of his elbows, Nett cried out, 'No, Jean!'

With a small smile, Cackas told her, 'It seems you will be the first to leave us, my dear.'

Jean bowed her head, and shut her eyes tightly.

 _Tch, damn it all._

…

The Namekian village came into Kale's view and he could tell just how dangerously low the members of the Z Squad's powers had fallen.

 _Someone's has all but faded, and it feels like that massive energy I felt earlier is preparing another attack._

Kale clenched his fists.

 _Damn it! I can't make it in time! Only one thing for it..._

Kale closed his eyes. He focused on bringing his energy deep inside him. Bringing it in, then compressing it tightly to send it charged throughout his whole being.

He shot forward towards the village and shouted, 'KAIO-KEN!'

…

Nett lay on the ground beside Corro, unable to move to help Jean. A red energy wave, several times wider then the one Jean had fired at him, erupted from the Commander's palm and engulfed the girl.

The Namek closed his eyes and turned away, as Cackas cut off the energy supply to his attack. The wave had left a long and deep trench in the ground, the area where Jean had been standing was a swirl of thick dust.

Corro's eyes cracked open, and he winced in pain as he said to Nett, 'He... he really did it...'

Nett couldn't speak. He had seen his share of horrors while serving in the Earth's Special Forces and had watched many comrades be struck down before his eyes, but something about watching Jean be killed in such a way twisted his gut like nothing before.

He looked over at Cackas as he slowly lowered his hand. As he watched, the Commander's eyes widened in shock, and Nett felt his breath catch in his throat.

…

As the roar of the Commander's attack faded, Jean quickly realised that she hadn't been harmed. She opened her eyes, then quickly shut them again, tears leaking from the sides as the dust the wave had kicked up made them smart.

Jean covered her face with her arm and opened her eyes a crack. She was standing on a small island, a shallow trench on either side of her. Slowly, she looked up and tried to focus her eyes through the dust. A figure stood just in front of her, facing towards Cackas. When the Commander had launched his blast, it had curved around the body of her protector and created the ditch that ran around the patch of flat earth they stood on.

Jean could make out that it was a tall man, with a powerful body. He wore a bright orange outfit and had short red pole slung over one shoulder. For a moment, she thought that it was her father.

 _No. It's not him. He... he almost looks like..._

Jean closed her eyes and began to fall forward.

In the last moment before her mind went blank, she thought the stranger looked almost like her brother.

...

Kale turned quickly and caught Jean before she hit the ground. His body felt electrified as the effects of the Kaio-Ken wore off and was pleased that it's use hadn't tired him.

The Commander's eyes widened as Kale turned away from him.

Gently lifting Jean into his arms, Kale walked over to where Corro lay on the ground, as Nett struggled to his feet beside him.

As Kale approached the pair, a small mass of what looked like red play dough came together near the two Nameks and moulded itself into Bobo's head.

'Kale, I... How is this possible?' Nett spluttered, 'I don't even know... Where have you been?'

Kale couldn't help it. He smiled as he came to a stop before them.

'Hi guys!' he said, unable to keep serious, 'I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. My ride kind of got lost along the way...

'Anyway...' he took a deep breath, and resumed speaking in a slightly more sombre tone, 'I'm sorry for making you guys worry. I know you must have either thought the worst of me, or thought the worst had happened _to_ me. So, for what it's worth, I'm going to try and make it up to you now.'

Nett was speechless. He hardly recognised the youth standing before him as the same boy that had joined his squad almost a year ago. He didn't what was more shocking, whether it was how much Kale had physically grown in the nine months since he'd last seen him, or if it was the new clothes he wore, or in the careless way he spoke to them now. Or even if it was the long tail that sprouted from the back of Kale's pants.

As the newest member of the Z Squad looked him in the eyes, Nett knew that what was most different about the boy, was just how much he had matured into a man. Kale's personality was infectious, and Nett allowed a smile to creep over his face.

'Hi Kale!' Bobo's head called from the ground.

'Hey Bobo!' Kale replied, looking down at the Majin, 'How are you doing?'

Bobo smiled broadly. 'Bobo's head hurts bad, but Bobo doesn't mind now that Kale is back!'

Kale laughed. 'It's great to see you too!' he said cheerfully.

Peppe and Reed slowly walked over, leaning on each other for support.

'Hey you two!' Kale called over.

Flashing the young boys a smile, Kale added 'You've changed so much since I last saw you.'

Reed stared at the ground and scuffed his shoes against the ground, while Peppe stared up at Kale's face, not quite recognising him.

Kale looked down at Corro lying on his stomach and said quietly, 'Hey Corro.'

The Namek returned his gaze and said with a weak smile, 'Hey Kale. It's been a long time.'

'It sure has!' Kale replied, laughing again, 'Sorry about not getting here sooner, you just rest for now, it's looks like you've been through the ringer.'

Corro chuckled softly. 'You can say that again,' he told Kale, 'I can barely move my body. I don't think that I'll be able to be of much help to you now.'

'That's okay, I can handle things now,' the Saiyan assured him, 'I need you to do me one small favour though...'

'Hey, if you can get us out of this mess, I'll help you any way I can.'

Bending down, Kale placed Jean on the ground next to Corro, carefully minding her broken arm as he did.

'Look after my sister,' Kale told him, 'for just a bit longer.'

With that, Kale quickly straightened up and began to walk towards Commander Cackas.

'Wait, Kale!' Nett called after him, 'You can't hope to face him alone and win! You'll need our help to even have a chance!'

Kale stopped and looked back over his shoulder at his friend.

'No offence Nett,' he told the Namek, 'but you look like you'd fall over if the wind blew hard enough.

'Besides,' Kale added, turning away from the group with a small smile, 'I can handle him.'

Once again, Nett stood speechless in wake of Kale's words.

'Nett,' Corro said from beside him, 'this Kale, is not the same scared, crying boy that left my village three years ago.'

'That's an understatement,' Nett replied, finding his voice, 'this Kale is completely different from the one that I fought beside nine months ago.'

'He got really strong,' Reed said bluntly, a hint of jealousy in his voice.

Jean stirred and opened her eyes slightly. Her eyes swam in and out of focus as she watched the back of Kale's head move away.

'No... Kale...' she whispered as a tear ran down the side of her face, 'Don't leave... You can't leave me again...'

Jean closed her eyes, as she passed out again.

Commander Cackas lashed his tail against the ground, his eyes narrowed as he stared straight at Kale. Without a scouter he hadn't been able to detect Kale's approach. Even so, at the last moment he had seen the Saiyan move in front of his blast faster than he could react.

'That technique you used just now,' he called out to Kale, 'somehow it increased your speed enough to move to shield that girl before I could destroy her... What do you call such a skill?'

Kale's face contorted into an ugly snarl of rage at the Commander's words. His earlier light hearted attitude gone at the prospect of facing his cruel enemy.

'Oh don't worry,' Kale answered, 'you'll be seeing it again very soon!'

Suddenly, the Saiyan shifted his stance and sprung forward. He cleared the distance between him and the alien commander in three strides, each step flinging up a chunk of dirt behind him.

With a loud yell, Kale drew back his left fist and swung it as hard as he could at the Commander's head.

Smirking, Cackas blocked it with right hand, then brought up his left to shoot the Saiyan through the chest.

Before he could fire his beam, Cackas felt something wrap around his wrist, keeping his hand pointed at the ground. Alarmed and caught off-guard, he looked down and saw that Kale had used his monkey-like tail to block his sneak attack.

Catching the Commander wide open, Kale drew back his free hand and, with a wide smile on his face, punched Cackas hard across the jaw.

Nett gaped, amazed that Kale had managed to pull off such a move. Beside him, Reed jumped up and cried, 'Come on Kale!'

As the Commander stumbled back, dazed, Kale grabbed hold of the alien's wrist and with a rough yell he turned and swung Cackas over his shoulder, sending him crashing into a large pile of rubble.

Without releasing his grip on his opponent, Kale pulled Cackas up out of the wreckage, swung him back around and slammed him into the ground.

With a roar, Kale lifted his foot and brought his boot down towards the Commander's head.

At the last second, Cackas snapped open his eyes and quickly rolled to the side, as Kale's foot hit the ground with a resounding _BOOM_.

Cackas rolled several more times, before he came to a sharp stop and pushed his hands back on the ground beside his head and flipped up onto his feet.

He stared at Kale, knees bent, breathing quickly. Kale stood still, watching him stony faced.

'You... Just who are you?' Cackas asked, shock resounding in his voice.

Nett and the others shared the Commander's surprise in light of what they had just witnessed. Even Reed stood still with his mouth slightly open.

'Nett, I may have taken too many hits to the head before,' Corro said slowly, 'but it looked like, for a second there, Kale had the upper hand.'

Nett gritted his teeth and said, 'Unless I've been knocked around just as much you, I think you're right. Kale caught him completely off guard.'

The Commander stood facing Kale. His chest moved quickly up and down

When Kale didn't respond, Cackas bared his teeth and bellowed, 'WHO ARE YOU!'

For a moment Kale was silent. Then he responded with the same small smile, 'Just a Saiyan.'

Cackas clenched his fists together and growled deep in his throat. 'Saiyan, what? Just what...'

He trailed away, too angry to form articulate words in his mouth.

'But you may know me as Kale,' the boy added.

The Commander was silent for a moment. Then a sneer crept over his face, his earlier apprehension gone.

'Kale? You're just a runt. A rookie. The only reason you were added to the Z Squad was because their numbers were running so low they had to start recruiting straight out of boot camp!

'You have nothing on a supreme being like me!' Cackas spat at Kale.

'We'll see about that,' Kale replied quietly, 'but I promise you this; you're going to pay for hurting my friends!'

'Enough of this!' the Commander roared.

He jumped forward, sprinting straight at Kale. 'Die!'

Focusing his energy, Kale yelled, 'Kaio-ken,' and a deep red aura swirled around his body.

Kale ran to meet Cackas and the pair met in a clash of furious blows.

The Saiyan swung his fist at the Commander's head, and Cackas caught the blow in his hand. He quickly twisted Kale's wrist away from his body and the youth stumbled, nearly falling to one knee.

Cackas brought his other hand up to deliver a right hook, but Kale, left nearly completely open, bent his body back almost horizontally and the Commander's arm swung at nothing but air above his head.

Leaning forward Kale used his free hand to push Cackas' arm back against his chest, pinning it between them. As they stood locked in each-other's grip, Cackas still holding tight to Kale's wrist and Kale holding the Commander's other arm, Kale brought his leg on the free side of body up and rammed his knee into the alien's side.

The Commander hissed in pain, but did not slacken his grip. Kale growled through his teeth and his power surged, his aura swirling around him like red flames. He drove his knee into Cackas' ribs again, over and over.

Wincing each time he was struck, blood ran freely from the side of the Commander's face. Before Kale could kick him again, Cackas bent his knees and jumped, twisting in mid-air.

Pulled off his feet by the Commander's grapple, Kale fell hard on his back, the energy from the Kaio-ken quickly dissipating.

Cackas landed heavily, but square on his feet and quickly drew his sword. With a triumphant cry, he drove the point down at Kale as he lay vulnerable on the ground.

Kale managed to move to the side just in time to almost completely avoid the Commander's blade. Cackas caught him in the side of his abdomen, slicing open his shirt and cutting a wide, but shallow wound.

The Commander's sword sunk nearly halfway into the ground as the weight of Cackas' swing pushed it down. He swore and looked around at Kale, his eyes narrowed.

Before Cackas could free his sword Kale jumped up and reached over his shoulder, drawing the Power Pole. He swung it once around his head, missing Cackas by several feet.

The Commander sneered and pulled hard on his sword. His toes digging into the dirt as he wrested the blade free. For a moment he took his eyes off Kale as it came loose and as he did, Kale swung the pole around again, this time extending it to it's normal length.

Cackas looked up just as Kale brought it round again. The wooden staff smashed into the side of his head and he stumbled backwards, loosing grip on his sword.

As the dazed Commander back-peddled Kale smiled and took up his stance. Then he lunged forward, striking Cackas repeatedly. Unable to cover himself, the Commander was driven back, stumbling over his own feet.

If he raised his arms to protect his head, Kale would strike him in the side or the stomach. The length of the staff gave Kale the freedom to strike anywhere and with no way to counter the his enemies reach, Cackas was powerless to stop the Saiyan's merciless onslaught.

Kale grinned in savage delight. This was something more than training. His body was filled with a consuming energy that he had never felt while training with Goku. In this duel, he was fighting for his life. And he was winning.

 _This is too easy. I may as well be hitting a training dummy!_

Coming in low, Kale jabbed Cackas in the fork of the legs. As the Commander bent forward, his eyes watering, Kale drove the Power Pole upwards into his chin

Leaving Cackas stunned and exposed, Kale turned side on and thrust his staff forwards into the Commander's stomach.

Cackas spluttered in pain, spittle and blood falling from his mouth as he bent over.

He was suddenly lifted off his feet and flung backwards as Kale roared, 'POWER POLE EXTEND!'

Cackas shot through the village. The Power Pole was lodged against his abdomen and it pushed him further and further back. Through his blurred vision, Cackas saw the cleared ground of the village give way to the grassy terrain that surrounded it.

With a sudden and loud crunch, the Commander came to a stop as Kale pushed him back to the treeline, slamming him against the trunk of a thick tree.

Not far from where the alien Commander had landed, Lan lay beside Kinwa, staring in open amazement.

The Power Pole held Cackas lodged against the tree and Kale did not let up on the pressure. As the Commander's gasped for breath, he heard Kale yell, 'Power Pole retract!'

Cackas looked up and saw that the end of the staff that Kale gripped was the end that it was retracting from.

The Pole rapidly shrunk to normal size, pulling Kale along through the air behind it. Cackas' eyes widened as Kale flipped over mid-air and shot feet first towards him.

Grabbing hold of the staff with one hand, Cackas tried to shift it enough to escape in time, but couldn't dislodge it quick enough.

Kale's boots slammed into the Commander's face dead on. The force the kick was so hard that Kale broke the tree trunk in half and Cackas shot out of sight. He didn't immediately stop and the sounds of him crashing through the undergrowth could be heard as he came to a gradual halt.

Kale landed on the spot where he had kicked Cackas from and sheathed the Power Pole, a smirk on his face.

From where she lay nearby, Lan called out weakly, K-Kale?'

'Hey there you two,' Kale called back, turning to face her and Kinwa with a smile, 'it's been a while, hasn't it?'

Pulling herself up onto her elbow, Lan told him, 'I don't even know what to say Kale. Where have you been? How did you get here?'

As he looked at the pair and took in the severity of their injuries, Kale's smile faded somewhat.

'It's okay,' he told them with a straight face, 'I promise I'll explain everything once this is over. I'll win this fight and then I'll try to make it up to you guys-'

Kale broke off as there was a series of loud crashes could be heard from within the forest. A long, loud cry of rage echoed through the trees, as the stones begin to slowly lift off the ground into the air.

As the air thickened the frequencies of the Commander's power could be heard in the vibrations around them.

Kale turned away from the two woman.

'And now it looks like he's ready to start fighting seriously,' he yelled out, raising his own power level.

As Kale's hair lifted and stood on end and his clothes moved in the powerful breeze, Lan said to Kinwa, 'I can't believe this is Kale. It's like he's a completely different person.'

'It's not that he's different,' Kinwa replied slowly, her eyes still tightly shut, 'to me, he feels the same. It's his energy that feels different. Compared to how strong it was when he first joined us it feels... heavier. Like it has depth, and I can't perceive how deep it goes.'

'What are you saying?' Lan asked Kinwa.

'I may be wrong,' Kinwa said, a small smile creeping out from behind her hands, 'but I suspect that Kale may have become stronger than all of us!'

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

'What's happening King Kai! Did I miss anything?' Goku called out to him as he sprinted across the ground to where King Kai stood.

'Nothing exciting yet Goku' the King replied, keeping his eyes closed and his attention fixed on the far away battle, 'they haven't been at it for long, but so far Kale has had the upper hand.'

Goku came to a stop behind and punched the air. 'Yeah! That's our boy Kale! How's he been doing so far?'

King Kai was silent for a moment. 'Mostly well,' he replied, 'Kale has been focused from the start, whereas Commander Cackas has been faring poorly. Kale's sudden appearance has given him an edge and to the Commander, he's an unknown quantity.'

Grinning, Goku said, 'Sounds like he's just what they needed to turn the tide! What about the Kaio-Ken?'

'Yes, Kale's used it twice,' King Kai said, nodding, 'so far it has served him well and he hasn't had to double it yet.'

Goku crossed his arms behind his head and with a small smile said, 'I knew that kid could do it.'

King Kai straightened up and turned around to face the Saiyan. Behind his dark glasses his brow was furrowed.

'Don't be so quick to call the fight Goku,' the King admonished, 'Kale hasn't won just yet.'

'What do you mean King Kai?' Goku asked, his eyes wide in surprise, 'You were just saying how well Kale is doing.'

King Kai crossed his arms and looked at the ground. He breathed in and out of his nose slowly before answering.

'It's true Kale is very strong and has been dominating the fight so far, but part of this is attributed to surprise,' he told Goku, 'what's more, Cackas is quick to anger and he easily lets his emotions cloud his judgement.

King Kai turned away from Goku and crossed his arms behind his back. 'We have to remember that Commander Cackas was the soldier that was chosen to lead the assault against Earth. We haven't begun to see everything he can do yet. Once the element of surprise wears off and Cackas gets a handle on himself, the fight will come down to two things; strength and skill.'

Goku was silent for a moment before he strode forward to stand next to King Kai.

'I think you're right about that King Kai,' the Saiyan told him, 'but Kale hasn't shown everything he can do just yet either.'

'You're right,' King Kai agreed with a nod, 'I trust in Kale's determination and will to win. That boy has more power than he's shown yet.'

'I couldn't agree more! Now turn around so can get back to watching the fight!'

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE

With a strangled yell, Cackas burst out above the forest's treeline and shot into the air above the village.

Kale grinned, and, bending his knees, he launched himself off the ground and flew straight at the alien Commander.

Cackas turned to face him, but before he could, Kale reached out and grabbed hold of the Commander's tail.

Letting out a yelp of pain, Cackas was suddenly yanked backwards as Kale began to to spin him in a circle.

Kale leaned his whole body into his spin, adding to the momentum.

 _This is what happens when you mess with my friends!_

'Let...let go!' Cackas managed to choke out as the air whistled past his head.

'If you insist!' Kale said, grunting with the effort, 'DRAGON THROW!'

Kale released his hold on the Commander's tail and Cackas plummeted towards the ground below. The alien yelled in fury as he tried to slow himself in mid-air.

Right before he hit the ground, Cackas growled through his teeth and managed to flip over, landing feet first on the ground. His sword lay on the ground nearby from when Kale had knocked it out of his hand earlier. Growling again, Cackas snatched it up and looked around as Kale came at him from above.

Kale twirled the Power Pole above his head as he drew closer to Cackas he took hold of if firmly and brought it down onto the Commander's head with a loud yell.

Cackas narrowed his eyes. At the last moment his hand snapped up and caught the Power Pole before Kale could strike him. A loud _THUD_ resonated through the staff but Cackas did not release his grip on it.

Kale's eyes widened in shock, amazed that the Commander had caught his weapon with with bare hand.

Nearby, Nett felt a cold feeling begin to spread over his limbs. The fight had been completely one-sided up until now, but something about how easily Cackas had stopped the blow scared him. The Namek didn't like the way the alien stood. His face was set, but emotionless. The frustration that could be felt emanating from before had been pushed down and silenced.

Nett stepped forward and called out the the Saiyan, 'Look out Kale! He's about to get serious!'

For a moment the only movement that came from the Commander was the slow trickle of blood from where the glass of his scouter had cut him. Then he turned side on and swung the Power Pole over his head to slam Kale in to the ground.

As he soared over the alien's head, Kale let go and fell face first towards the dirt. Putting his hands in front of him Kale managed to push himself up and flipped forward several times, trying to keep some distance between him and Cackas.

As he straightened up and turned around, he had a fraction of a second to react as Cackas gripped the shaft of the Power Pole in his left hand and flung it like a javelin at Kale.

At the last moment, Kale twisted his body away as the pole staff shot past him, stumbling as he did. There was a loud crash from behind as it struck the side of house.

Kale looked up as Cackas ran at him. The alien's face was blank. He ran with his head down and his eyes fixed on Kale, his sword held down at his side.

 _He's fighting for real now! This really is the strongest the IA has set against us!_

Kale focused his mind, not letting panic get the better of him. Just before Cackas reached him, the Saiyan let his energy spill forth in a white aura and yelled, 'KAIO-KEN X 2!'

His vibrant aura changed to a dark red as the two fighters came together. Kale was immediately put in the defence, unable to stop the Commander's sword.

Cackas was coming in fast. He wasn't bothering to try and strike Kale with his limbs, instead using only his sword to strike at the Saiyan. With the Kaio-ken X 2 Kale was just managing to keep out of the Commander's reach, but Cackas was no longer letting his anger drive him onward.

The Commander struck quickly, but not desperately. Cackas knew that he was fast enough to catch Kale. Eventually he would tire, or trip, or mess up in some way and then he would have him.

Kale had achieved this level of the Kaio-ken before, but using it for a prolonged time was beginning to strain his body. Sweat begun to form on his forehead, and he could feel his arms and legs becoming heavier.

 _Damn it! I have to get rid of that sword! With out the Power Pole I've got no way to counter his attack. I need to think of something fast!_

Kale felt his foot hit something and he suddenly lost his footing as he tripped over the body of fallen Namek.

Cackas' eyes flashed and he lunged forward to finish the boy.

Gritting his teeth, Kale managed to get one foot firmly under him, then instead of hopelessly trying to avoid the blow, he launched himself at Cackas.

The Commander's eyes widened as Kale came at him, not expecting an unarmed frontal assault. His sword came down too late but it still struck Kale in the chest and tore it's way up over his left shoulder.

Growling deep in his throat Kale managed to push forward. He came in close, past the reach of the Commander's sword.

Kale drew back his right hand and swung his fist at Cackas yelling, 'ROCK!'

The Commander rolled his head away from the blow and turned back to face Kale, an ugly sneer on his face.

But Kale didn't let a moment go to waste. Pulling his good arm up again he thrust his fist forward, the index and middle finder on his hand extended and this time cried, 'SCISSORS!'

Kale jabbed his fingers into the alien's eyes and Cackas let out a high pitched shriek like a child.

As the Commander tried to step back, his free hand covering his eyes, Kale grabbed hold of his sword arm at the wrist in his left hand, and with his right began to beat the Commanders fingers, forcing him to lose his grip on his sword.

As the blade fell to the ground with a loud _CLANG_ , Cackas stumbled backwards, one hand still covering his eyes.

Settling into his stance, Kale launched himself at the Commander and cried finally, 'PAPER!'

His open palm struck the Commander square in the chest and the alien was flung backwards landing in a heap on his back.

Breathing heavily, Kale quickly scooped up the Commander's fallen sword and threw it as hard as he could into the forest before Cackas could get up.

As Kale turned back to face Cackas, the alien Commander was pulling himself to his feet, his breathing as labored as his own.

Standing, Cackas opened his eyes and looked at Kale. Thin, white veins stood out in the Commander's watery eyes.

'You've got some pretty dirty moves boy,' he told Kale.

'Oh yeah? Well so do you,' the Saiyan replied.

Kale's shoulder was burning where the Commander's sword had cut him. It had been a glancing blow to his chest, but Cackas had sliced upwards and carved open a flap of skin that lay closed over as blood slowly oozed down.

He could still move his arm but his fingers were tingling and the pain was excruciating. On the left side of his body blood trickled down his hip from the wound Cackas had dealt him earlier. While it hadn't troubled him much to begin with, as the fight wore on it had begun to ache and bleed more freely.

 _ _I'll have to beat him soon if I hope to win. If this fight drags on any longer, Cackas won't have to beat me himself, I'll simply succumb to my injuries.__

Straightening up and cracking his knuckles, Kale said to Cackas, 'Alright, come on then. I haven't got all day!'

Cackas wiped blood away from the side of his head with the back of his hand. Sneering with contempt at Kale, he said, 'This has got to be a joke, an absolute joke that I am having any trouble defeating a creature like you!'

'If it makes you feel any better,' Kale told him, letting his arms drop to his sides, 'I'm not having such an easy time either.'

The Commander's face twisted in fury. 'Worm!' he cried, 'You are nothing, nothing compared to a being like me! Thousands of your species have fallen to my hand! None of your pathetic race who have stood against me have lived!

'If you need any more proof on my dominance, then cast your eyes upon the wasteland that once was one of your people's great cities!' Cackas spat, pointing north.

Throughout the Commander's tirade, Kale had stood still, regarding him coolly. However, when Cackas began to speak of his conquests, Kale felt a cold feeling spread throughout his limbs.

'What do you mean?' he asked the Commander.

'West City,' Cackas replied, grinning triumphantly, 'your species' house of sticks! Because of me a ruin lies where that proud city once stood!'

'You were there?'

'I was the who held the torch to their funeral pyre!' Cackas told him, and Kale felt the bottom of his stomach drop, 'I was was the one led our forces in a cleansing inferno and burnt the rats from their homes! Their lives ended because I willed it, and their buildings fell by my hand!'

 _It was him. He was the man in the sky that Jean saw that day. He was the one who killed..._

'But why the interest?' the Commander asked, cocking his head to one side, 'Did I murder some friends of yours?'

'I was... I was...' Kale choked out, his eyes fixed on the ground, 'I was from West City.

'Impossible', Cackas said, crossing his arms, 'we left no survivors.'

 _No survivors._

For several long moments there was silence. Cackas stood with his arms still crossed and a sneer on his face, watching Kale stare motionless at the ground. Then, there was a soft _clacking_ noise, as the stones that lay on the ground around them began rock back and forth, before slowing rising into the air. Kale's hair began to whip around, as if he was standing in the midst of a gale, but around the village the air was still.

The young Saiyan clenched his fists and when he raised his eyes to meet the Commander's, his brow was set and his teeth were clenched firmly together. Veins stood out from his temples and he breathed in quickly through his teeth.

As the stones in the air around him broke up into a fine powder, Kale told Cackas, 'You're wrong. It's true, many died on that day. Yet against the odds my sister and I survived. Out of anyone who could have lived, you let us escape.

'You asked who I was, but only now will you truly learn!' Kale roared, bending his knees and pushing out his energy in a brilliant white aura, 'My name is Kale, my sister and I come from West City! You killed our mother and father, now we will have our revenge!'

'What!' Cackas exclaimed a mixed look of anger and puzzlement on his face, 'You expect me-'

The Commander was cut off as Kale tore off the tattered remains of his shirt where Cackas had sliced it open and yelled, 'KAIO-KEN... X 3!'

Kale let out a blood-curdling scream as the ground beneath him split and stones where thrown in all directions. There was a series of soft cracking sounds, then the muscles that covered his body bulged until they were nearly three times their original size.

The red aura that surrounded the Saiyan moved like a wild fire caught in a fierce wind and expanded outwards and upwards.

Cackas blinked, and the moment his eyes were closed, Kale launched himself at the alien.

The Commander jerked back, as Kale's face was suddenly inches away from his own. With a strangled yell, Kale crashed his fist into the alien's face, sending him flying.

Kale jumped forward after him. As Kale shot past, Cackas winced in pain and opened his eyes, but Kale had already vanished from his sight.

The Saiyan stopped ahead and swung his leg into the Commander's back before the alien could stop himself from flying through the air. Cackas cried out in pain as he was knocked in the opposite direction.

Stepping forward, Kale sent a large chunk of earth behind him as he leapt after the Commander.

Cackas managed to flip over and dug claws into the ground and managed to come to a stop. He bent over, one hand held against his back and the other rubbing where Kale had struck his face. As he turned to face the Saiyan, Kale was already standing before him, fist raised and ready.

Cackas brought up his hands to stop the blow, but Kale was too quick.

Kale smashed his fist into the Commander's chin delivering a devastating uppercut and sending the alien soaring into the air. His eyes fixed on Cackas, Kale growled angrily and shot into the air past the Commander.

Cackas managed to turn to face Kale as the Saiyan brought his foot down onto the alien. Cackas' arm shook from the force of the stomp and he trajectory changed suddenly and he was sent crashing towards the ground.

'I'm not finished yet!' Kale yelled after him, before flying after the alien, his aura leaving a bright red trail in the air behind him.

 _Not even close to finishing!_

Cackas stopped himself from falling and hovered in the air just above the ground as Kale appeared below him.

The Commander turned to face the youth as Kale brought his hands together at his side. A bright blue light formed between the Saiyan's hands and the blast could be heard humming as Kale fed it more and more energy.

'KAMEHAME-' Kale began.

For the first time since he had arrived at the Namekian village, Cackas felt fear. He thrust his hands forward, unable to move away in time, instead trying to desperately stop the attack.

Kale stretched his arms out in front of him and opened his hands, keeping his wrists together, and bellowed, '-HAAAAAAA!'

An enormous blue wave erupted from the ball of energy gathered in his hands and shot outwards, completely consuming Commander Cackas at point blank range. The alien yelled in both anger and pain as the blast collided with his hands and began to push him back.

Kale gritted his teeth, then roared again, putting more power into the attack. The red of his aura altered by the Kaio-ken stood out starkly against the electric blue of the Kamehameha. Cackas had been obscured by the width of the wave, but Kale could feel he was still standing against it as the blast spread around his body.

The ground beneath Kale's feet was rapidly breaking up as the Kamehameha formed a crater around where he was standing, the grass being burnt away and the dirt sent flying.

Nett stood with his back to the blast as it sent stones and small pieces of clay flying at him and the others. Reed, Peppe and Jean stood against his body, their heads pressed against his chest as he shielded them from the debris.

Each time he was struck by a flying object Nett flinched in pain. When he couldn't take anymore he yelled over his shoulder, 'Kale you have to stop! If you put out any more energy you'll destroy the whole village!'

Nearby, Kale heard his friend's cry but didn't release the stream of energy.

 _Not just yet. The Kaio-ken can hold a little longer so I'm going to let him have it some more!_

'Take this!' Kale cried, and sent another surge of energy into the wave.

For a few more seconds Kale maintained the attack, but when it became too much to continue, he cut off the energy flow into the wave. As his arms fell to his side, the light from the Kamehameha slowly faded, leaving a bright blue streak across vision. At the same time his red aura returned to normal as his control over the Kaio-ken X 3 ended.

Breathing deeply, Kale focused his eyes on where Cackas hovered in the air.

The Kamehameha had pushed the Commander away from him. As Kale watched, Cackas slowly raised his head from where he had ducked it between his arms to shield his face from the blast.

The Commander's armour was a ruined mess. The paint on the front of the armour had been completely stripped away, showing the bare white alloy underneath. The pauldrons had been blasted off, and the armour that had protected his wrists and shins was gone too.

The soft scales that covered Cackas' hands had been charred and burnt black where he had stopped the Kamehameha.

He raised his head to look at Kale. His eyes twitched as he regarded him with a look of pure loathing.

As the Commander slowly drifted to the ground below, Nett said in awe, 'Unbelievable...'

'How did he do that?' Reed asked from his side, 'How could he take Kale's attack like that?'

'It was unreal,' Peppe added, 'I've never seen power like that but it still wasn't enough.'

Nett could feel his earlier feeling of apprehension returning. 'I don't know how he's still standing,' he told the children, 'what Kale just did, I didn't think that anyone could have survived. And yet, Cackas is still alive with barely a scratch.'

Cackas landed in the village away from Kale. The two stood regarding each-other, a thirty metre space between them. Both the warriors stood still, waiting for the other to make a move.

Kale's muscles ached as they slowly shrunk to their normal size.

 _Damn, I hurt all over. Using the Kaio-ken X 3 feels like I may have broken some ribs in the process. And I think I broke my toes when I kicked Cackas' arm. King Kai warned me about using anything higher than a double Kaio-ken. Using a triple has really taken it out of me._

Kale gritted his teeth in frustration. He had put an enormous amount of energy into the Kamehameha. His body felt drained.

 _And it still wasn't enough to take him down. What a guy, after everything Goku made the Kamehameha out to be, the first person I use it against stops it with his bare hands! Well, I'm not about to give up yet!_

Kale took a step towards Cackas. As he did, his leg wobbled beneath him, unable to take his weight, and he stumbled to one side.

Cackas didn't miss the opening. He jumped forward, clearing the space between them in a flash and ramming his knee into Kale's jaw.

Kale lurched back and nearly fell, his weak limbs betraying him. Cackas grabbed him around the throat and slammed his fist into the side of Kale's face, sending him sprawling in the dirt on his back.

Wincing in pain, Kale managed to flip over and pull himself up onto his hands and knees. Before he could stand, Cackas ran at him and kicked him from underneath in his chest.

The force of the kick knocked the wind out of the Saiyan, and Kale was sent flying into the side of one of the Namekian houses, near where Nett and the others stood.

Kale gasped for air as he fell to the ground, landing hard. Cackas slowly walked towards him and Kale dragged himself up onto his hands and knees and began to crawl forward.

Cackas stopped, and stood still as Kale stood shakily. The Saiyan's mouth was twisted in a silent snarl of pain and frustration.

 _Come on body, move!_

'Have you had enough yet?' Cackas asked him coyly. Despite the beating Kale had dealt him, the alien was still standing tall, and his earlier smug confidence had returned.

'Not on your life!' Kale told him. He gritted his teeth and prepared to launch himself at Cackas again. It was only then that Kale realised he couldn't feel his legs. His exhausted body wasn't responding and he stood still, locked in place.

 _DAMN IT, COME ON!_

Cackas chuckled. 'It seems like your body has made up your mind for you,' he said, placing his hands on his hips, 'perhaps now you realise that you never truly had any chance of defeating me.'

At the Commander's words, doubt began to creep into Kale's mind. His gaze shifted from Cackas to the ground in front of him and his breathing quickened.

 _What if... What if he's right? After all this, I've fought so hard but I've barely put a scratch on him. I'm only a rookie soldier, what hope do I have against the man Rose sent to lead his forces against us?_

Kale's eyes snapped back up and he fixed his gaze on Cackas. The alien stood still, regarding him silently.

 _What if I'm not strong enough? What if, I can't..._

'COME ON KALE, YOU CAN DO IT!'

Kale looked around in alarm, quickly jerked away from his dark thoughts. His eyes settled on Lan, who had managed to walk close to where the other fighters were.

Her right eye was closed over from where the Commander's attack had struck her earlier, the skin still burnt and peeling. Her left arm was limp by her side from when she had collided with the tree, and where Cackas' beam had burned it's way through.

With her good arm, she supported Kinwa, who had her own arm wrapped around Lan's shoulder. Kinwa's eyes were still shut tight and she covered her face with her free hand.

Despite her injuries, Lan's face was set in a determined expression. Kale could feel the emotion pouring from her. And when she spoke, Kale heard the anger in her voice.

'You better not be thinking of throwing in the towel yet Kale, you're better than this,' she told him, 'what's this guy got on you, huh?'

Kale blinked, speechless. Across from him, Cackas seemed perplexed by the Saiyan's outburst as well.

'He's got nothing, that's what!' Lan went on, her voice rising to a hysterical level 'I've cracked tougher nut shells! This is guy is trash, you can do it! BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM KALE!'

Cackas pressed his knuckles against his nostrils and sniffed in disdain quietly. Kale stood still, but a new warm sensation had replaced his feeling of cold despair.

'Yeah, Lan's right!' Reed said, picking up were she had left off, 'You're amazing Kale! You're the strongest fighter I've ever met!

'So, I guess you're stronger than my brother,' he added in an undertone.

'Kale, I... We... we're all behind you,' Kinwa said in a quiet voice, 'we're all counting on you!'

'She's right Kale,' Corro told him, pulling himself onto one knee, 'you asked me to do you a favour, but I need you to hold up your end! Win Kale! Win for us all!'

'Kale is the MAN!' Peppe declared excitedly, jumping into the air.

Nett smiled, and rested his hand on the young boy's head. He looked up at Kale and told him softly, but firmly, 'They're right Kale. We need you to pull through and win. You were picked for the Z Squad for a reason. You were chosen not just for your strength alone, but for the strength of your courage!

'Now fight on!' the Namek continued, his voice rising to a shout, 'You're not alone, we're all here beside you! Let our strength be your strength!'

Kale tore his eyes away from his friends and looked at the ground in front of him. A small smile played on his lips as he thought back on Goku's words.

 _'Just remember that whenever you're in a dark place; think of your friends. That's it's them you're fighting for. Let their strength flow into you, and you can't fail.'_

The will to move was returning to the young Saiyan's body. In the face of his friend's unwavering encouragement, despair had fled from his mind, replaced by almost insurmountable desire for victory. Almost.

Slowly, Kale looked back at the others, and his eyes moved to where Jean stood.

His sister was leaning slightly against Nett's body for support, her broken arm still stuck out on an odd angle. Her other hand was pressed to her mouth and her face was streaked with tears.

She met Kale's gaze, and several long moments the two children stood still, watching each-other.

Then, Jean said in a voice barely above a whisper, 'Don't give up Kale, don't ever give up!'

Kale's eyes widened and he drew in a breath of air in a small gasp. His gaze returned to the ground, his fingers curling to form fists and his breathing quickening.

 _'Don't give up!'_

 _'...don't ever give up!'_

 _Don't give up._

A wide smile spread across Kale's face as a new found strength began to spread throughout his body.

In front of him Cackas rolled his eyes and said in an annoyed tone, 'For goodness SAKE! Is it over!

'This sickening display of affection has been wonderful, truly wonderful,' he went on, 'but you see, no matter how many words of support you give him, your friend Kale-'

He broke off as Kale began to chuckle softly.

'Something funny? Cackas barked at him.

'Heheh... heh... It's just that... you came so close,' Kale told him.

The Commander's narrowed eyes widened suddenly as Kale lifted his head to meet his gaze. A fierce fire shone in the boy's eyes, and an almost sickening smile was splashed across his face.

'You'll never know just how close you came,' Kale continued, 'I was almost done. For a second there I was almost ready to give up. You asked me what was funny? Just now, my friend's reminded me of something that someone had once said to me.'

Kale's smile faded. Slowly, his energy began to rise once more. His hair rose in the wind and his muscles tensed once again as he took up his stance.

'And what my friend had said to me,' Kale roared, oblivious to the wounds spread across his body, 'reminded me of what I was fighting for! About how I wont lose, I can't lose, why I cannot afford to lose!'

Cackas sneered at the Saiyan while the rest of the fighters cheered at Kale's announcement.

'Kale's still on the team!' Peppe cried.

'That's it Kale!' Lan said, a broad smile on her face.

'I knew you could do it,' Nett said quietly.

Cackas threw them a dirty glance before looking back at Kale and asking, 'Just how do you expect to win Kale? You've got nothing left.'

The alien stepped forward out his hands by his side.

'I must admit, that Kaio-ken of yours certainly packs a punch,' he told Kale, 'but it isn't nearly enough.'

Cackas gave a high false laugh and closed his eyes.

'Why, you'd have to increase it's power by at least ten to hope to defeat me!'

Kale didn't answer.

When he didn't reply, Cackas opened his eyes a crack. He looked at the youth and when he saw that the Saiyan was smiling, he felt his body go cold.

'Noooo...' Cackas began, stepping towards Kale.

Before the Commander could reach him, a mass of red blobs shot out from amongst the rubble behind Cackas and sped towards him.

Cackas turned just as they reached him, but he was too slow and before he could move, the blobs had covered him completely from the neck down. They melted together to form what looked like a hard slime, gluing the Commander's feet to the ground and holding his arms by his sides.

Kale looked on in amazement as the Commander struggled to get free. He was immobilized, barely able to flinch, certainly unable to make any move towards Kale.

The surface of the slime that covered the Commander's chest rippled, then pushed together to form the face of Bobo. The Majin's small black eyes met Kale's and he grinned triumphantly.

'Okay Kale, Bobo will hold the bad guy,' he told Kale, 'but you better hurry and use your special move because Bobo can't keep him back for long!'

'Thanks Bobo, don't worry, I won't let you down,' Kale said, returning the Majin's smile, 'you just hold him right there and I'll take care of the rest!'

As Cackas yelled in disgust and struggled to free himself from Bobo's grip, Kale closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly, willing his body to be calm. He could feel his heart-beat regulating. Kale slowly brought his turbulent energy back inside, sharply focusing it.

 _This is going to hurt a lot._

Kale took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air, before opening his eyes and roaring at the top of his voice, 'KAIO-KEN X 10!'

An ear-splitting crack filled the air as the ground beneath Kale's feet split. His aura turned red once again and spread out around him.

Almost immediately, Kale felt an enormous pressure pushing him down. His back bent until he stood almost double, his legs spread wide apart and his arms held out by his sides. The muscles on the Saiyan's arms, legs, chest, neck and all over bulged even bigger than they had before.

All the while Kale felt as if his body was being crushed as it struggled to control the power of the Kaio-ken X 10.

 _Oh man! This is... insane! I feel as if I could split apart at any second._

Kale chanced a look at Cackas. The alien had stopped struggling to get loose and was now watching Kale with his mouth slightly open, a look of fear across his face.

Kale looked over at the others. They all had the same look of silent wonder, as well as a modicum of apprehension.

 _No. I can do this. I just have to hold on a little longer. If I can harness the power of the Kaio-ken, I'll have what I need to defeat Cackas once and for all! I cannot afford to lose!_

Kale gritted his teeth and tried to straighten up, pushing against the pressure crushing him.

As he struggled to take control of the increased power of the Kaio-ken, the effects of using such a dangerous and unwieldy power began to show. Across his body, Kale's muscles continued to grow until they became too big for his skin.

His pale skin began to split as the size of the muscles in his arms and shoulders grew. Long, thin red lines appeared all over his body and small streams of blood began to leak out and run down his legs. From the two wounds Cackas had dealt Kale with his sword earlier, blood began to gush forward in a fast stream.

Nett hissed through his teeth as he watched Kale struggle. Beside him, Jean gasped and pulled at his shirt, her eyes fixed on Kale.

'What's happening Corro?' Reed asked his brother.

'Kale must not have used this level of power before,' Corro replied, 'increasing the power by three took a heavy toll on him, but it still wasn't enough to defeat Cackas.'

'And now he's stuck,' Nett added, gritting his teeth, 'he has to keep pushing forward to try to control the Kaio-ken, otherwise his body will be crushed in the attempt, if it doesn't give out first.'

Reed stared up at Nett, a frightened look on his face.

'But can he do it Nett?'

Nett gave him a small smile. 'I know that no matter what, Kale will let his body fall apart before he lets this chance to beat Cackas slide!'

 _Now we just have to hope Kale isn't crushed in the process..._

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

King Kai slowly sunk to his knees, then pitched forward and put his hands out to stop himself from falling.

'King Kai? What's the matter?' Goku asked him, losing his grip on his back, 'Are you okay? Did something happen?'

King Kai didn't answer at first. His whole body was trembling and sweat shone on his forehead.

'King Kai?' Goku asked again, bending down beside him, 'Please tell me what's wrong!'

'It's... It's over...' King Kai managed to choke out, his bottom lip trembling, 'It's done. Kale has lost.'

Goku looked aghast. 'What are you saying King Kai!' the Saiyan asked, 'Just a moment ago Kale was resolved to win.'

With a heavy sigh, King Kai pushed himself onto his knees.

'I know how it looked Goku,' he told him, 'but I was right about Cackas; he was simply too strong. Kale might have had the will to win, but it wasn't enough against the Commander's strength.'

Breathing deeply, King Kai went on. 'Kale was forced to take a gamble to win,' the King went on grimly, 'to match the Commander in strength... Kale has used a Kaio-ken X 10 attack.'

'He, what!' Goku exclaimed, recoiling in horror, 'But to use the Kaio-ken X 10, even I had to train at one hundred times the Earth's normal gravity to be able to master power of that level!'

'I know Goku, I know.'

King Kai grasped Goku's arm for support and pulled himself to his feet.

'Now you see why, in my mind, Kale has already lost,' King Kai told him, 'He wasn't here long enough for me to prepare him for using the Kaio-ken at that level. The chances of him pulling off such a technique-'

King Kai turned away from Goku and stared out into the pink sky.

'-are all but none.'

'But isn't there anything we can do King Kai?' Goku asked him.

'I'm afraid not,' King Kai sighed, 'it's too late now. Kale's power level will continue to rise whilst the Kaio-ken pulverises his body into nothing. And even if the boy does manage to pull it off, it will still chew him up in the process.'

King Kai fell silent. For a moment, Goku didn't speak either. Then the Saiyan smiled and moved to stand next to him. At first Goku didn't speak, but when he did, his usual jolly manner had returned.

'You know, King Kai,' Goku told him, 'before when you said that the fight would come down to strength and skill, you forgot one more thing. And that's heart. Heart will be the third and final deciding factor in this fight.'

At Goku's words, King Kai ducked his head, suddenly ashamed at his pessimistic outlook.

'That boy hasn't let us down yet,' Goku said cheerfully, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, 'and I don't think that he's about to start now!'

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE

 _Almost. I'm nearly there. I can feel it!_

Kale's arms and legs shook as the force of the Kaio-ken racked his body. His knees wobbled, threatening to give way. Kale focused on willing his raging body to still, trying to keep himself from falling over.

As his power continued to rise, Kale could feel the pressure on his body increase. A series of loud _cracks_ came from his side as Kale felt several of his ribs crack from the force pushing on him. A sharp pain stabbed into his abdomen as his jagged ribs pierced his side.

Kale grimaced in pain, but managed to maintain his focus.

 _Just a little longer..._

Nearby, the Z Squad looked on in horror at Kale's plight.

The two youngest boys were staring with wide eyes and open mouths, too shocked to speak.

Corro had turned away from the scene. He couldn't bring himself to watch anymore.

Jean had her face pressed against Nett's side, and he could feel her shaking.

'This isn't right,' Nett could hear himself saying again and again, 'this isn't right.'

Kinwa and Lan stood supporting each-other. Lan couldn't stop shaking her head in disbelief.

As they watched, there was a change in tone of the vibrations that the Kaio-ken was emanating throughout the air and Kale's eyes bulged in alarm and he screamed through his teeth.

Kale felt the pressure change, and he suddenly straightened up. For a brief moment, he thought that he had done it, but then the force pushing his body increased even more than it had before.

The young Saiyan felt as if every vein in his body could explode at any time, as if each of his bones was only the lightest of touches away from shattering.

As the pressure increased, Kale's jaw clenched tighter and tighter. His teeth ached as they pushed against each-other.

Finally, they couldn't take it anymore. Kale's head jerked to one side as the teeth on the right side of jaw splintered and exploded outwards, tearing open his cheek and exposing the inside of his ruined mouth.

Nett realised that he had been holding his breath as he watched Kale, and quickly let it out as his head started to ache.

Nearby, Lan gasped and gripped Kinwa tighter.

But still Kale struggled onward.

 _Not yet body. Don't let me down just yet. Just... a... little... further..._

As Kale forced his body to keep pushing, the veins in his left eye began to stand out as blood began to build up.

Realising what was about to happen, Nett cried out, 'Kale, no!'

A second later there was a sickening _splat_ and Kale quickly closed his eyelid as blood and jelly fell down his face. He leaned to the side and almost fell over, but again the Saiyan was able to withstand the pain and the trauma the Kaio-ken inflicted.

'Kale, you have to stop this!' Lan called to him, her tail lashing from side to side, 'What you're doing to yourself, you need to stop!'

Kale looked over at her with his remaining eye and gave her a jagged smile.

The Saiyan fell silent, unable to find the words to say to him. Across from Kale, Cackas stood staring transfixed. Even the brutal alien soldier had never seen anything like the sight before him now.

 _You're wrong Lan. I can't stop. I need to do this. I HAVE to do this. I promised I'd make it up to you all by winning this fight, and no matter what part of my body the Kaio-ken breaks next, it can never break my resolve!_

Then just like that, the pressure crushing his body into a bloody pulp was gone. Kale gasped. The change had been so sudden that he almost let the power slip away. The pain remained. So much pain. Kale thought he'd die simply from the pain alone. But the pressure was gone. He'd increased the Kaio-ken's power by ten.

The power was his.

The Z Squad noticed the change immediately.

'He's done it,' Nett said in amazement, 'he passed through the gauntlet and was able to use the Kaio-ken X 10.'

'But what does that mean?' Peppe asked the Namek, finding his voice.

'It's means,' Nett replied as a smile spread over his face, 'we win.'

Kale launched his ruined body at Cackas and flew straight at the Commander.

The alien began attempting to free himself from Bobo's hold again, redoubling his efforts.

As he shot towards the Commander, Kale drew back his right fist.

 _This is it. I've only got one shot at this. All of the power from the Kaio-ken X 10, all of my strength, everyone's lives, I'll bet it all on this last shot!_

Kale bared his teeth and breathed in deeply. He focused all of his energy into his right hand. His arm glowed with a bright gold light that began to take form.

 _I'll put everything into this attack!_

'DRAGON FIST!'

The light surrounding Kale's hand came together and formed the head of an enormous dragon. As the dragon materialized it wrapped it's tail around Kale's arm and let out a deafening roar.

Cackas' eyes widened in panic as Kale crossed the distance between them. At the last moment, Bobo flung himself away, leaving the Commander exposed. Cackas took one step to flee, but Kale was already upon him.

With a yell of rage, Kale slammed his fist into the Commander, hitting him square in the chest. The golden dragon let out another roar as Kale's fist burst through the back of the alien's armour. It took flight from Kale's arm and clawed it's way through the Commander's chest, widening the hole. The dragon soared into the sky above them before exploding in a brilliant flash of golden fireworks.

Commander Cackas coughed once, blood spilling from his mouth. Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet Kale's gaze.

'You...' he managed to choke out, before he coughed again and fell backwards, his body sliding off Kale's fist and landing spread eagle on the ground, unmoving.

The Z Squad stood frozen, not daring to believe what they had just witnessed.

Kale stood bent over, his arms hanging limply by his sides. The golden dragon had seared the flesh of his hand leaving it charred black.

The Saiyan smiled weakly, let out a, 'Heh...' then collapsed onto his back.

His friends called out to him and rushed to his side as fast as their own wounds allowed.

…

THE PLANET OF THE NORTH KAI

Once again, King Kai fell to his knees. Yet this time his eyes were filled with tears of happiness, rather than despair. Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground as Goku spun him in the air, laughing with joy.

'He did it, King Kai! He really did it!' Goku cried as he spun the King around.

'I know, Goku, I know!' King Kai told him, 'But please, put me down.'

Once back on solid ground, King Kai straightened his glasses and dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief. Behind him, Goku and Bubbles held hands and danced in a circle, whilst Gregory hopped from one foot to the other in the air above them as they cried together, 'He did it! He did it! He did it!'

 _I'm ashamed to admit it, but for a few long minutes there, I thought that Kale wouldn't succeed. It just goes to show how the younger generation are more determined than they are ever given credit for._

'He did it! He did it! He did it!'

 _Although the result of the battle really shouldn't have come as a surprise to me as all. Kale is a Saiyan after all._

'He did it! He did it! He did it!'

 _That species' bloody history continues to be corrected as good hearted Saiyans stand up for what is right, and fight for good, rather than evil and personal gain._

'He did it! He did it! He did it!'

 _Yes... Those Saiyans... they cannot be measured against any other species..._

'HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE DID IT!'

 _You never quite know... just what they will... Oh for Supreme Kai's sake, I can't even hear myself think!_

'HE DID IT! HE DID IT! HE-'

'SHUT UP!'

…

NAMEKIAN VILLAGE

When Kale opened his eyes, the first thing he beheld was not the pain that coursed through his body, but the sight of his friends gathered around him.

He glanced up at each of them. They all shared the same worried look, except for Peppe and Reed, both of whom were grinning broadly.

Kale couldn't help but smile as well.

'Heeey,' he said weakly to no one in particular, rising his left hand off the ground slightly and giving a little wave.

Lan snorted and ducked her head, laughing into her elbow. Kale chuckled with her, but gasped as pain shot through his body at the slight movement.

Looking at all of his friends in turn again, Kale told them, 'Hum sorreh ehf hi made you worreh abouh meh. Hat was pretteh huch and go hor a innet.'

'That was absolutely sick Kale!' Reed exclaimed

'Yeah!' Peppe agreed, 'How did you make that dragon appear?'

'I couldn't believe what you did to power up though,' Reed went on, 'when your eye exploded, caaaaaaw, gross!'

'Reed, that's enough,' Corro told him weakly.

Corro stood with one arm over Nett's shoulder. His eyes were still half closed, but when he looked down at Kale, a smile was on his face.

'Hey Kale,' he said quietly.

'Hey Horro,' Kale replied with a small smile.

'Man, you look worse than I do.'

'Yeah, I'll bet!' Kale replied, gasping in pain, 'Ooh, hont ake e talk, hit hurts to reathe!'

'Oh, Kale,' Lan said, regaining her composure and turning back to face him, 'you really are a Saiyan. After what I just witnessed, I know our ancestors are smiling down on us.'

Smiling again, Kale raised his finger and pointed it at her. 'I knew you'd het it,' he told her.

'So, all that mental business with Jean and Lan _apparently_ turning into Saiyans was your doing?' Kinwa asked him.

When Kale chuckled softly, Kinwa said, 'Great. Good going. Fantastic job, really. You gave Lan just what she needed to complete her loopy personality. And a tail to boot.'

Kale fought against the urge to laugh once more as the little red blobs came together behind Nett and once again formed into the round shape of Bobo. The Majin rolled around on the balls of his feet and waved at Kale.

As Kale looked up at his exuberant friend, his gaze drifted over to Nett.

'I am sorreh,' he told the Namek, 'I hust have ade tings hary conhusing hor you guys.'

Nett shook his head. 'None of that matters right now,' he told Kale, 'at this point in time, I couldn't care less about an explanation. What matters is that you're here now, and we're all alive.'

'Not all of us,' Jean said in small voice, speaking for the first time.

Kale closed his eyes. Then willed himself to look over at his sister.

She met his gaze. Her blue eyes trembled and her whole body shook, but her face was dry.

'Hey Jean.'

She swallowed once. 'Hi Kale.'

He was silent for a moment, but when he opened his mouth to speak she cut him off.

'I don't want to hear it,' she told him, 'just... Nothing. Say nothing. I don't want to hear an apology.'

Jean gritted her teeth, the muscles of her face moving erratically as she tried to keep from crying.

'You know,' she breathed, 'if you hadn't already gotten yourself beaten up like a loser, I'd beat the crap out of you for walking away three years ago. I'd...'

She ducked her head and broke off from speaking, her body still trembling and her hair covering her face.

Kale waited for a few seconds, before reaching out with his left hand and taking hold of her own. When Jean didn't pull away, he gave it a squeeze and got a small one in return.

'Your hair's gotten really long,' he told her.

'And your hair is sticking up like some sort of weird bird,' she replied.

'I'm...' Jean swallowed again before speaking, 'I'm glad you're okay.'

The rest of the group was silent until Peppe said loudly, 'He doesn't look okay to me.'

The boy flushed red as all eyes in the group turned to him. He ducked his head in embarrassment. Reed punched him in the arm and said quietly through his teeth, 'That's not what she means Peppe.'

Kale looked up at Nett again. 'Waht arr you hall hooing here though?'

'It's a long story,' Nett replied, shaking his head, 'too long. It'll just be another explanation that'll have to wait until later. The short answer is; we came here to help defend Corro and Reed's people against the Intergalactic Army's forces.

'I just wish we'd got here sooner,' he added in a quiet murmur.

'Don't beat yourself up Nett,' Corro told him quietly, 'we got here as soon as we could and saved as many of our people as possible.

'Everyone, myself and my family owe you and your squad a debt,' he added giving the older Namek a weak smile.

'Don't forget,' Nett told him, returning the smile, 'soon enough I want our squad to be yours too!'

Kale's eyes widened.

 _Oh-ho, yeah! Now we really will be unstoppable._

The group fell into silence. As they stood in the centre of the destroyed village the sound of an engine could be faintly heard approaching. The Z Squad members stiffened at the noise, unaware of what could be coming.

As the roar of the engine drew closer, a large cargo plane came into view. It's hull was painted a light grey and written across the side was the number 17.

The plane stopped above the village, hovering in mid-air as the jet engines turned to allow it to descend slowly to the ground.

As the engine was shut off, the door to the hull slid open and out hopped an old man with a mass of grey hair and an equally grey moustache.

The man walked over to the group and called out, 'Yo! Are you guys finished getting the tar beaten out of you yet?'

'Hey Yajirobe!' Peppe cried, running over to him, 'Did you come here to help us fight?'

Yajirobe threw back his head and laughed. 'YEAH RIGHT!' he told the boy, 'That'll be the day!

'But what gives?' he went on, 'It looks like the fight's already over.'

Peppe nodded enthusiastically. 'That's right!' he said, 'Things looked bad, but we won thanks to Kale!'

'Kale?' Yajirobe asked, scratching his chin, 'That stuff is disgusting! How the heck does that help you win?'

'What? No,' Peppe replied looking puzzled, 'Kale is Jean's brother.'

As Peppe pulled him over to the group, Corro said, 'Here come my people. They must have seen the aeroplane land.

The villagers began to emerge from the forest pick their way through the devastation toward the group. Many of them leaned on one another for support. At the head of the crowd, his arms around two Nameks walked Vert, bruised and beaten, but very much alive.

When Yajirobe stood before the Saiyan, Peppe told him, 'This is Kale.'

Kale gave him a small wave and Yajirobe said, 'Umm, hey, how you doin'?'

Then, turning towards Nett, the old man asked quietly, 'This is the guy that helped you win the fight?'

Nett smiled, but didn't reply. He and Corro turned to face to Namekian villagers as they reached the group. The crowd begun to break up and the villagers moved amongst the fighters, shaking their hands and thanking them for their courage. Yajirobe didn't bother to mention that he'd only just arrived.

Vert relieved the two Nameks of their burden and stood firmly as he thanked Nett and embraced Corro and Reed. The old Namek glanced at Kale as he lay on the ground and his eyes widened as he realised that not only was the soldier alive, it was someone he knew.

'Hello Kale. It's... it's good to see you again,' he stammered in shock.

'You too Vert,' Kale replied.

The old Namek's face darkened as he took all of Kale's injuries.

'Who did this to you my boy?' he asked gravely, 'Was it the same people that attacked our village?'

'Not hite,'Kale said with a half smile, 'hut that's a storeh hor anoher time.'

'In any case, I'm glad to see you,' the elderly Namek said, returning the smile, 'even under terrible circumstances such as these.

'Although,' Vert went on, 'why are you here? I thought you intended to join the military.'

'He did,' Nett answered for Kale, 'he's with us Elder Vert. He's part of our squad.

'And he definitely earned his place,' Nett added, looking over at Kale.

'Which reminds me,' Lan said, loudly interrupting them.

'What are you doing here?' she asked Yajirobe bluntly.

As the crowd turned to face the man, a line of sweat ran down his wrinkled forhead.

'Oh, well, you know,' he said, throwing Lan a dark look and trying to sounds officious, 'I'm here for a very important reason! Several, in fact!'

For a long moment there was silence as nobody spoke. Then Kinwa asked slyly, 'Such as?'

Yajirobe let out a nervous chuckle.

'Well, first of all, I'm here to assist the Z Squad in their fight in any way I can! Ahh, but more importantly,' Yajirobe added as Lan narrowed her eyes at him, 'I'm here to tell you that you will not be returning to Korin Tower!'

Silence fell again, in the wake of Yajirobe's announcement. Even Lan looked surprised.

'You mean, Korin doesn't want us to come back?' Peppe asked him.

Yajirobe shrugged. 'You see kid, it's not like he doesn't want you to come back or anything, in fact, he's loved having someone else to talk to. It's just that you're done with his training.'

'What do you mean, "we're done"?' Corro asked.

'Just what I said, wonder boy,' Yajirobe replied, 'it's time to move on to the next stage.'

Beside Kale, Jean stood tall.

'What's next?' she asked, her face set and determined.

Yajirobe looked at her and said, 'The Guardian of the Earth wants to see you. That's the next step.'

Around the group of fighters the villagers began to quickly talk amongst themselves. Even Nett, Corro and Reed were ignoring the others. Not for the first time, Kale felt out of the loop.

Thankfully, Jean quickly spoke his mind.

'I'm sorry!' she shouted over the clamour, 'But what is the Guardian of the Earth?'

'He's a Namek,' Corro replied, as the villagers fell silent, 'a very old and very wise Namek who has seen, not only our own people, but the people of the planet Earth through many dark times.'

'But who is he?' Jean asked, raising her eyebrows.

'Just that,' Vert replied, 'he is who we say he is. It's a bit difficult to explain, best to go and see him for yourself.'

'We're leaving already?' Reed asked the elder, 'But we only just got back?'

Vert smiled and gently placed his hand on the young Namek's head.

'I understand Reed,' he told the boy, 'my heart aches to see you leave again so soon. But it is enough to know that you are well. Besides, if the Guardian of the Earth himself has requested to see you, you must go! It is a great honour, and a rare privilege.'

'In that case, I've already made up my mind,' Lan told them, walking over to where her sword had fallen.

Picking it up and sheathing it once again, she told them with a smile, 'I'm going.'

'Me too,' Kinwa stated.

'We're in as well,' Jean said, looking down as Kale.

Bobo clapped his large hands together. 'Bobo will go too!' he announced excitedly.

'Hey!' Peppe cried, frowning at them all, 'You're not leaving me behind!'

'We wouldn't dream of it,' Nett told the boy, giving him a smile.

Then, turning to face Vert, Nett said 'I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner Elder. If we'd arrived just a bit earlier we may have been able to stop the soldiers from causing as much damage as they did.'

'Do not blame yourself young man. The only ones to blame are Rose's soldiers,' Vert told him, 'you bear none of the responsibility of what happened here today. Homes can be rebuilt. Crops can be resown. The lives of those lost cannot be replaced, but we will remember them within our hearts and thoughts, as we will do with you and your squad.

'In truth,' the old Namek added with a sigh, casting his eyes down at his feet, 'I have spoken ill of your kind in the past. For the most part, I thought you fools chasing dreams of glory. And yet, here you are, ready to lay down your lives for us.'

The elderly Namek held out his hand and Nett shook it.

Absent-mindedly picking his nose, Yajirobe asked loudly, 'Do you think we can all go now?'

Farewells were quickly made before the Z Squad boarded the plane. Nett helped Corro climb in as he hadn't recovered from his injuries. Lan guided Kinwa to a seat before helping Jean to put her arm in a sling and then roughly tying one for her own arm.

Peppe and Reed ran up and down the length of the plane while Bobo struggled to fit his girth into one of the seats.

Four Nameks carefully carried Kale aboard a stretcher Yajirobe had brought and strapped him down to the floor.

Once everybody had been seated, Yajirobe climbed into the cockpit and fired up the plane's engines.

As they rose into the sky the old man grabbed the radio and spoke out loudly over the speakers.

'This is your captain speaking, so pay attention 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Keep your seat belt fastened throughout the length of the journey, I don't care if you need to go to the toilet, you should have gone before we left.

'Exits are wherever you see a window. As we are living on a planet being invaded by hostile aliens, in the very likely event of a crash there is only one parachute, and it's for me, because you can all fly.

'Tea and coffee will not be served. No, I will not adjust the temperature. If you have any problems with anything I've just said, I already explained where the exits are.'

…

At last, the members of the Z Squad have been reunited, and the battle to save the home of the Nameks who travel with them has been won. The defeat of Commander Cackas has been a great victory for the Earth's Special Forces against the Intergalactic Army.

Now, what new exciting, and even dangerous, adventures lie ahead for the new Z Squad? What will be the next step in the fight to take back the planet? And what does the Guardian of the Earth have in store for our heroes?

A climatic finish to a non-stop thrill ride of a first saga, that has left the door open for more questions to be asked!

And the only way you'll learn the answers to these questions, is to wait eagerly for the next exciting chapter of a new saga in Dragon Ball: Age 1000


End file.
